A Path Towards Vengeance
by maxaurelius1024
Summary: Menma had lost both of his parents when he was 3 years old. It was during this time that his younger brother Naruto was born. In a attempt to protect the village their father splits the 9 tails into both of his sons. Little did their parents know that Menma possesses special eyes that will make him a target of Orochimaru but a God too!
1. Origins Part 1

"

is speech

is thoughts

is speech cut off by action

Ex: You'll never beat m"- gets killed

is speech cut off speech

Do your homewor"-"Shut up

."-Menma.

Is character finishes talking

Menma woke up to find himself in a dirty room covered with blood at his feet. He already knew where he was. 'Ok, ok. I can't lose hope, Kakashi or someone else will find me.'-Menma.

A man with long hair walked into the room and Menma lost a little of that hope. "You're not supposed to be awake yet, today's the day things are gonna get really painful for you. Menma couldn't do anything about his current situation even if he tried his best. The man walked over to him and injected him with a needle, the needle pierced his skin and Menma jolted a bit and started having flashbacks.

Flashbacks going back to where it all went wrong after coming back from the Land of Waves...

Menma woke up in his bed and walked towards the bathroom. His face looked nearly identical to Suigetsu's, the differences were that Menma had shorter bangs, his hair wasn't as spiky, no pointy teeth, slightly tanned skin, red hair, and one of his eyes were red and the other was blue. He also had the same 6 whiskers as Naruto, but he didn't receive the kyuubi as young as Naruto did so if the kyuubi disappears so does the whiskers.

After he finished up he was going to wake up Naruto, but Naruto was already awake, in fact he never slept in the first place. Menma was a caring brother who was 2 years older than Naruto, he walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know it's unfortunate they had to die, but there isn't always going to be a happy ending to a story. You should never forget what they did, that memory makes you stronger. But it isn't healthy to lose sleep by blaming yourself for something you couldn't control Naruto."-Menma.

Naruto looked up at Menma wiping away a tear from his slightly red eyes, "Yeah, you're right Menma, ima go drop by Hiruzen and ask for a job to help clear my mind."-Naruto. Menma smiled at this, and then decided to leave himself.

When he walked outside he quickly got a few negative looks his way, but they quickly looked away remembering his threats, Menma was a good person, and he didn't actually hurt anyone just for looking at him, He just threatened them so that they could stop bothering him and his brother. After walking past a certain house he gave it a glare, looking at helped him remember how before he became a genin the villagers had some sick game, where every time he and Naruto were adopted, they would whip them and deprive them of proper food. They were also forced to sleep in the mud if there was ever a storm, and if there wasn't a storm they just made them sleep outside anyway.

The only reason they didn't starve to death is because Menma was lucky enough to be born with a passive variation of the wood style Kekkei Genkai, where he could quickly grow any fruit or vegetable or plant in general, he can't do perfect trees yet though, and the only reason they didn't die from blood loss was because Menma's Kurama half felt sympathetic towards them, and scared their adoptive parents into staying away. And after an incident with Kurama killing one of their adoptive parents later that evening while Kurama was asleep the villagers tried to claim revenge on the 2 brothers, the only reason they survived is because Kakashi stepped in, and while hearing some of the villagers words he discovered their secret, and Kakashi being the student of Naruto's father became quite infuriated. It would be very vulgar and gory to go into deep detail, but Kakashi made an example out of one of them, and threatened them with words that could make Orochimaru push himself. After that was all done and over Kakashi now with less trust in the village people than ever before decided to adopt the brothers himself, as their new father, and life after that became great. Honestly it was the best thing that happened to them in their entire life.

Well now, they just about all the time just act like he's not there. Which he doesn't really mind, it's an improvement.

After Menma's jog down memory lane

he returned home and knocked on Kakashi's bedroom door he came out and was ready for his early morning training. Once they arrived Kakashi decided to do taijutsu today.

"Menma, you're naturally good at evading out of the way of an attack, but how about we take advantage of an attack by countering it. A counter is when you block an attack and then follow up with an attack of your own. And one more thing, when your countering target their pressure points, but target commons ones most of the time, not everyone has the same pressure points. So, we will do 3 combinations for now. And these will be bone breaking ones that can be lethal so that when you take someone down, they stay down. The first one is something like this.this move is used against a normal straight forward punch. First party their arm out of the way and use your other hand to chop at a sensitive spot near their elbow, then use that same hand and grab them by the wrist and pull down in a -45 degree angle, also while you are pulling on their arm use your other arm to keep their jaw facing backwards, the reason you do this is so that by stretching their arm far from their neck you can potentially break one of their nerves. Then you will knee them as hard as possible in the elbow. It looks kinda like breaking a wooden board but upside down."-Kakashi.

"Next will be if they go for a front kick, you know, like a spartan kick. You will grab the leg, and as fast as possible side kick them in the face hard enough for them to fall over, holding the leg up high helps this. Once they are on the ground make sure you still have a hold of their leg, and then go for a chakra enhanced axe kick, or wheel kick right on their knee. Now THAT will look just like breaking a wooden board, just a little tilted."-Kakashi.

"Next is the most brutal of all, I came up with this one in a dream, it was a weird dream in fact. For some reason some guy on steroids was fighting some guy in a batsuit. I think I'll call it the Bane. Now how the bane works is first you will have to wear down your opponent to around half stamina, then you will lift them above your head and slam them down on your knee, this has the potential to break their back."-Kakashi. "That last one sounds kinda uncreative."-Menma.

"Shut up. Just practice these combos on clones of yourself. Ima be over here reading if you need me."-Kakashi

1 hour later

"Kakashi sensei, I think I've mastered the combos now."-Menma. Kakashi was a little surprised by how fast he finished but remembered something.

"Damn, I forgot were suppose to have a mission today. Menma follow me."-Kakashi. They both shunshined towards the meeting place.

5 minutes later

"WHAT THE HELL TOOK YOU SO LONG!?!?!?"-Sakura. That sound was so familiar. It reminded me of the deafening screech of a siren.

"Sorry we're late, I'm afraid we got lost on the path of life."-Menma. Kakashi smiled at this, he taught Menma well.

"Anyways we have 3 D-rank missions, to do today."-Kakashi. Naruto would usually complain, but decided not to because of their real first mission they had.

Menma wasn't on any of these, he decided to use a shadow clone instead and go think about life for a day.

While walking along he eventually ended up on the 4th Hokage's stone head, and started thinking about some things about himself.'I have an affinity for all 5 nature transformations, I got fire from Kurama,(not that I know literally any ninjutsu or genjutsu though so it's pretty pointless...)., and I'm a natural marksmen with throwing weapons. What else can I do? Maybe I'll make myself a sword, nah a normal sword would be boring and weak. Maybe a sword like the kusanagi, but it would be awesome if I could make my OWN! Something like a sword with obsidian around the edges of the blade because obsidian can cut through anything, but It shatters like glass. And I could make the inside of the blade titanium because of how strong and light it is, and I could put tiny amounts of chakra metal mixed with silver inside of the swords metal so it can conduct energy like nature elements and Kurama chakra a lot better than it already would. OOOOO, or what if I could make 2 of them and chain them to my arm? Wait never mind that would be copyright. And I could just make the handle as fancy and expensive as possible, while also infusing special chakra seal on it, so that only certain people can use it, and I guess as I go on in life if I come across some cool new stuff along the way I could add on more to it. yeah that would be goo-"Menma, I can't sleep if you keep on thinking so much."-Kurama. 'Heh heh, sorry, I think I should go find Naruto.'-Menma.

Near the academy

'Maybe he's hanging out with Konohamaru. Hey is that Konohamaru with Naruto? Why is he being choked by this cat clown? Oooooh, and who is this astonishingly attractive blonde haired girl-wait, I have to pay attention.'-Menma.

"Hey clown thing what are you doing with my boy Konahamaru? Get your hands off my mans unless you tryna catch some a dese hands with yo face yung boi!"-Menma.

"Is you threatening me bro? You tryna mix fam?"-Kankuro. "Yeah bro esgo RIGHT NOW then!"-Menma. "SQUARE UP THEN BOI!"-Kankuro. They got close to each other and were shoulder to shoulder. "STRIKE FIRST BOI! STRIKE FIRST!"-Menma. "Na BRUH! YOU BETTER HOPE YOU KNOCK ME OUT QUICK BEFORE I GET MY SQUAD ON YOU!"-Kankuro. "SQUAD? MAN SHUT UP YO SQUAD A BUNCH A CLOWNS LIKE RUSS SQUAD!"-Menma.

"Menma, I sense tailed beast chakra nearby, it's Shikaku."-Kurama.

"Wait, there's someone in that tree."-Sasuke.

Everyone looked over into the tree to see a short spiky red haired kid with no eyebrows, and a kanji for Love on his head.

"Enough Kankuro, you're embarrassing our village."-Gaara. Menma was surprised Sasuke noticed him.

"Gaara, you're back!"-Temari. "Gaara this is a misunderstanding, they lashed out first! I was"- "shut up, or I'll kill you."-Gaara.

'Damn, they really just got bitched.'-Menma.

"My apologies, I'll make sure they don't do anything stupid again."-Gaara.

Seeing they were foreign ninja and knowing about the chunin exams he decided to make a humorous first impression, especially for the lady. Menma felt it was false hope but still wanted to try. "Hold up just a second, if I'm correct isn't there some kind of law about non leaf ninja needing permission to be here? Show me your greencards foreigners!"-Menma.

'I told Hiruzen we needed a bigger wall but he wouldn't listen.'-Menma.

Temari got over her initial shock and smiled and responded in an amused way, "Oh no, it's border patrol, here's my permit."-Temari. Menma looked at the card and saw their identities. 'So her name is Temari.' "Ok, have a nice day, Madam Temari."-Menma. He kissed her hand and left leaving Temari with a blush.

"Wait, what's your name?"-Sasuke. Gaara turned around and said, "Gaara. what's yours?"-Gaara. "Sasuke Uchiha."-Sasuke. Everything was silent for a minute.

'Hmmm, while they're busy ima take my shot with Madam Temari over here. I kinda have bad luck with women but I really think it will work for once.'-Menma.

"So I never formally introduced myself, my name is Menma Uzumaki, so what's your name?"-Menma. My name's Temari so how old are you?"-Temari. "Ima couple years older than my squad so I'm 15, you?"-Menma. "Same!"-Temari. "So what's your nature affinity? My most favorite is wind."-Menma. "Wind is what I use all the time for my weapon!"-Temari.

They were unconsciously leaning into another while talking about similarities for a moment before a thin sand wall appeared between them and separated them.

Temari,we are wasting time, we have to check in with the sensei for the chunin exams let's go."-Gaara.

"The chunin exams?"-Naruto. "The chunin exams are how you advance in rank. If you do them you take a big step towards Hokage."-Menma. "GREAT, Let's do that!"-Naruto. "We will but first, let's find Kakashi and get more info on this."-Menma.

At squad meeting

"So I know this is sudden but I signed you guys up for the chunin exams, you have all exhibited phenomenal skills so far. So uh yeah, you guys should go there about now, you're running late. Bye."-Kakashi

At the academy

"What great memories we all shared here, don't you agree Sasuke? You were always pulling girls just by looking like you hated everything and you wanted to die."-Menma. "Hn?"-Sasuke. "I agree."-Menma.

"Don't make this hard on us kids, we're saving you trouble by not letting you in. The chunin exams are really hard." The Jonin stated with a smug grin.

Sasuke started walking towards him with the goal of exposing him. But Menma put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't intervene let's just go up to the next level. If the people here are dumb enough to fall for this they don't have much of a chance in the chunin exams."-Menma.

"Hn."-Sasuke

As they turned and walked up the stairs a group of 3 leaf ninja saw them. And followed.

They all walked into a big open room. "This looks like one of those rooms there would be a boss battle in. What do you think Sasuke? Sasuke?"-Menma.

"My name is Rock Lee, I would like to test how effective my techniques will be on a ninja considered a genius. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and I accept."-Sasuke.

'Who the hell is this? He looks like a school shooter, with his bowl cut and green spandex. Sasuke better be careful against this monster.'-Menma.

Sasuke went for a head on punch, but Lee disappeared, he showed up above him and said leaf hurricane and did some fast spiral kicks. Sasuke couldn't escape so he went for a block, but Lee finessed him and kicked him across the room.

"God damn, Sasuke you got knocked out in one hit! You really gonna take that? Get up!"-Menma.

Sasuke got up, and his eyes turned red. "Oooooo you in trouble now Lee!"-Menma

But then something unexpected happened, Lee unraveled his bandages and did a sliding kick into the air, Sasuke was pretty helpless, Menma was actually worried about what would happen and wondered if he should intervene to save Sasuke. But then a huge turtle pulled Lee down, now normally that would be pretty weird and Menma would say something funny, but he decided to go check on his friend Sasuke.

"Wow Sasuke, I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed."-Menma. "Shut up."-Sasuke. Seriously that was embarrassing, are you sure you still want to do the chunin exams? Maybe we should go home."-Menma. "Shut up."-Sasuke. "Also you look pretty hurt, do you want me to kiss your boo-SHUT UP!-Sasuke.

But then something scary happened. A man who looked like an older version of Lee showed up. "Oh no, it's Gai, Kakashi warned me about this guy. We have to get out of here now."-Menma.

"Team 7! It's time to run for the 1st testing room!"-Menma.

"Hey, you kids are with Kakashi, say, how is he?"-Gai. 'Oh no, it's too late.'-Menma. "You know Kakashi sensei?"-Sakura. "Well I guess you could say we're rivals. Our score is 50-49. In Fact I'm stronger than Kakashi."-Gai. "What? No that's not true."-Naruto.

"Are you denying the abilities of"- "It's fine Lee, I guess action is more effective than words."-Gai.

All of a sudden he disappeared and reappeared behind them. 'He's faster than Kakashi'-Sasuke.

"Ok we're done here, let's go."-Menma.

"Wait! I would like to admit that I lied earlier, I faced you to test my own abilities yes, but you are not the strongest ninja in the rookie 13. That person is"-"Me."-Menma. "Uh, no, I'm talking about someone in my group called Nenji Hyuga."-Lee.

As he left Sasuke looked irritated, but then he smiled. "It seems things are getting interesting, what's next? Sakura, Naruto, Menma let's go!"-Sasuke. "Wooo!"-Naruto.

"So, you all made it. None of you can imagine how proud I am of you all. I remember when you guys couldn't even climb a tree. But now you all can take on A-rank missions with no major problems. Now, go on, and defeat this last obstacle to be Chunin.

When the 4 of them stepped in they were greeted with a room full of ninja from all around the Ninja world.

"Menma!"-Ino. "INO! How have you been?"-Menma. "Great! I've been practicing the chakra healing like you've told me to! And I took a test, my healing skill is A-Rank!"-Ino. Menma had a prideful smile on his face, "Seeee? I told you my training regiment would work. Ino had a blush and said, "Thank you!" And a bow before leaving.

'Ima get the rest of the rookie 10 over here for a reunion real quick. What was that one group called? I think it was ino-shika-cho or something like that. And then there was the group with the mummy jonin leader, pretty sure that was team 8. Oh, never mind they're already here.'-Menma.

"You all should be a bit quieter, OH wait, are you people the rookie 10? Strait out of the academy. Look at you with your cute"-"ok pedo get to the point."-Menma.

"Anyways my name is Kabuto Yakushi, and take a look around you, what do you see?"-Kabuto. After they took a quick look around Menma answered sarcastically, "WHAT a bunch of Intimidating individuals, good thing I wore brown pants."-Menma. He got a few giggles out of that answer.

"(Sign), you kids remind me of my old self."-Kabuto. "So does that mean this is your 2nd time?"-Sakura. No it's, my 7th."-Kabuto. "Wow, that must mean you know a lot!"-Sakura.

"It also means you must be pretty fucking stupid."-Menma.

"Whatever, there are 3 stages to this exam, a written test, week long survival exercise and a tournament"-Kabuto. "Is it really that high a hurdle? How troublesome."-Shikamaru.

"Have no fear, I'll give you all a little advantage. I have over 200 of these cards and on them I can give you info on any of you or anyone in this room. Just point and I'll make the info appear on this blank card."-Kabuto.

"Me first!"'yeah, this is gonna be good, ima have a 5 out of 5 on all of these, people will see how powerful I really am!'-Menma. "Don't be so confident, you might be surprised."-Kurama.

As the card started spinning his statistics appeared, and they were all ones. "WWWWHHHHHHAAAATTT!??!?!?!? THIS ISN'T RIGHT I HAD THE BEST EVERYTHING"-Menma. "Are you sure about that?"-Sasuke.

"Wow Menma, you're a pretty fodder ninja."-Sakura.

"Now show Gaara of the Sand, and Lee of the Leaf."-Sasuke. " Lee's a year older than all of you except Menma, and he only excels in Taijutsu and is bad at everything else. Hmmm, interesting, apparently Gaara has never once been hurt before. And he has no stats, but he's taken multiple S-Rank missions. I just want you all to know this isn't a game. This is real life, your all fighting elite ninja who aren't afraid to kill."-Kabuto. "Wouldn't be the first time, this will be easy!"-Menma.

"How arrogant"-Lee. "Can you believe this guy?"-Kankuro. "He might be better than we think."-Temari.

"We should strike now"-Sound guy.

The started racing towards them at high speeds. One tried throwing kunai at Kabuto and all of them. 'Kurama, ready to make a good 1st impression?'-Menma. "Always"-Kurama.

Menma started moving at high speeds and caught all the kunai with each finger, then he threw them all back at their knee kaps and pinned one to the wall. The leader of the group tried attacking him with his sound device. "Watch out, that gauntlet uses sound waves"-Kurama.

Menma covered his hand in hardened earth and grabbed the gauntlet and crushed it, breaking his hand. But he wasn't done there, next he slammed him into the wall and used the kyuubi's strength to bend his elbow back fast so it cracked, breaking it. "You won't be hurting anyone else with this now."-Menma. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH"-Sound leader. Menma did a flicka da wrist which made the leader fly onto the ground.

"Well maybe he isn't as arrogant as we thought."-Tenten. "Quite brutal."-Neji.

"What a man!"-Temari. "Ok Temari calm down, it wasn't THAT good."-Kankuro. "Hmm, impressive."-Gaara.

More sound ninja started walking up. "Who's next?"-Menma.

But then smoke appeared at the front of the room and out of it a lot of people and the Procter showed up. "Silence degenerates! My name is Ibiki Morino, and I am the 1st stage chunin exam Proctor."-Ibiki.

"You sound ninja, no fighting without the Proctors permission."-Ibiki. "Sorry but this is our first time here so we lashed out."-sound guy.

I'm skipping the first test, it's just a long and boring and everyone knows what happens. Also Menma passed it with a slightly lower score than Itachi because he's smart and he had Kurama's help.

This is the site of the 44th training field, also known as... the Forest Of Death, you'll realize why later."-Anko.

"Is it because it's a forest you die in? Cause if so my team isn't gonna be one of those."-Menma.

"You've got a lot of arrogance!"-Anko.

She threw a kunai but he caught through its hole using one finger, then she used shushin to get behind him but anticipated that and tripped her by controlling part of the earth. Now that she was in the air he grabbed her around the waist and slammed her onto the ground In a way so he didn't harm her much at all, he was now on top of her.

"Ha, maybe if you went faster you would have got me with that shushin."-Menma. She was gonna say something but stopped and looked down, she then smiled and decided to use an embarrassing comeback. "Well aren't you a BIG man."-Anko replied emphasizing the word big with a sexy tone. She knew saying this would make him realize what was happening. He quickly stood up with a nervous look on his face. "Sorry about that! Let's just continue with the exams.

Temari had a disapproving look. While a lot of men were jealous, and most of the girls were amused.

"Ok here are forms for you to sign, they also have the rules. Sign these to confirm that Konaha will not be responsible for decapitation sickness death or pregnancies."-Anko.

"Wait did you just say preg"-"OK MOVE ALONG NOW SCATTER ACROSS THE FOREST AND WAIT FOR THE HORN TO SIGNAL THE START!"-Anko.

"Why is Naruto taking so long? He should have been back by now."-Sakura.

"I'm Back!"-Naruto. 'Waaaait. Doesn't Naruto wear his kunai strap on his right leg?'"Menma, that is not Naruto. There is no kyuubi chakra in this ones body."-Kurama.

"Hey Naruto, ima call you Juan ok? Now, what do you call a Mexican Tiger Woods?"-Menma. "Uh, I don't know is it a"-"HOLE IN JUAN!" Menma yelled as he threw a kunai at his head killing him. "MENMA, WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!!?"-Sakura.

"Hey guys I'm back, sorry I'm late I was knocked out by some guy from the sound village, man just wait till I see that guy again, I'm gonna... oh, you guys already took care of him."-Naruto.

"Hey Sasuke, give me the scroll, ima put it in a sealed box."-Menma.

"Hn."-Sasuke.

Before Sasuke could hand it to Menma they started to feel a cold breeze,"Hey does anyone else feel that weird breez-AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" They all screamed.

"Why hello there everyone, I won't waste my time with a disguise cause this Menma boy has sharp senses." Orochimaru stated licking his lips.

"Thank you, waait, where's Naruto?"-Menma.

"Nevermind, he's probably fine."-Menma.

"So, you want our earth scroll since you have the heaven scroll right?"-Sasuke.

"Correct, but we are wasting time so let's start already, life or death."-Orochimaru. Orochimaru then took out his scroll and swallowed it. "Those are some impressive deepthroat skills."-Menma.

"Be prepared."Orochimaru warned before he opened his left eye all the way and sent the fear of god into their souls. His stare made them see their own deaths, and they were paralyzed in place shaking. None of them could say a word.

'Uh, Kurama, I just saw my death, wha-what's wrong with me?"-Menma asked wearily. "Menma this is one of the 3 great sannins, he is way above your level, your gonna have to use at least 3 tails to fight him."-Kurama.

"Alright, this is gonna hurt for me and you, but mostly you."-Menma spoke bravely towards Orochimaru.

Menma's body became enveloped with red chakra and he grew 3 chakra tail.

"Interesting, so it's you and Naruto who both carry the 9 tails, you'll be under my control eventually."-Orochimaru.

Now I know some characters seem out of character to a certain extent. Like how Temari acted towards Menma. But just bear with it, also just to let you know, only the first couple of chapters are gonna have a lotta MenmaxTemari, I just want to give good development between characters and themselves. Although at around chapter 6 the relationship will die down drastically.

Also sorry if you wanted Naruto to be the main character but with Naruto you have a fixed personality you have to give him, with Menma there's more freedom. Besides the number 1 Naruto story on this site doesn't have Naruto in it.


	2. Origins Part 2

Just wanna say that if the way the relationship was written may seem overwhelming then please try to bear with it, cause it gets toned down a lot next chapter.

"Hmm, I'm disappointed."-Orochimaru.

Kurama lunged towards him but Orochimaru ducked and did the 5 pronged sealing. "UUUUHHHH!" Menma gasped and fell off the tree with the wind knocked out of him. Sasuke quickly snapped out of it and caught Menma.

"S-s-Sasuke"-"Save your energy, I'll take it from here."-Sasuke. Sasuke wasted no time in activating his sharingan and shushining behind him and doing a Fireball Jutsu. Orochimaru threw up a snake before being burnt to death.

Sasuke was relieved. He thought he already killed him. He thought.

Orochimaru emerged from the snake he emitted from his mouth and sliced Sasuke's back straight down and grabbed him by the back of his neck and bit his neck before throwing him away. Before Sasuke hit the ground Naruto caught him. Naruto set him down and looked at Orochimaru, Orochimaru quickly ducked and grabbed the kunai above him and slammed it into the clone behind him, Naruto summoned 50 more clones to assault Orochimaru but they were all destroyed by a gigantic snake summon. Naruto didn't give up though and reached Orochimaru but before he could do anything Orochimaru weaved Naruto's assault and grabbed him by the throat with the intent to kill. Menma saw this and used the last bit of his strength to shushin almost as fast as Shisui and snapped Orochimaru's neck killing him. Orochimaru's body disappeared into smoke. "So you defeated my clone."-Orochimaru.

This shocked everyone that entire time they were only fighting a clone.

The whole time Sakura just stood there helpless only being able to watch on. 'What could I do. Both Menma, Naruto, and Sasuke are down. We're all gonna die aren't we?'-Sakura.

"I am disappointed, I expected more from team 7. I will spare you today, but I will be back when your stronger, especially you Menma. I will have those secret golden eyes."-Orochimaru.

'Secret golden eyes'?-Menma.

'Secret golden eyes? What does he mean by that, is Menma hiding something?'-Sakura.

Sakura was starting to get increasingly tired, and her eyes were starting to close involuntarily.

Sakura woke up the next day and realized her teammates were all down and exhausted, so it was up to her to take care of them and protect them, Sakura stayed there to watch over them for 6 hours, she also recovered their scroll while she was on watch.

After a couple more hours there was unusual movement in the bushes. When Sakura turned around with a Kunai in hand she was surprised to see the three sound ninja from before.

"A sleep lookout huh? Well, you're gonna have to cut it short. Wake up that bastard Menma, I need to pay him back for breaking my arm. You know how hard it is to fix a broken arm? Your lucky I had a spare sound gantlet." The sound ninja bitched.

"Sakura, it's alright I'm awake." Menma spoke as he slowly rose. "No Menma, you're still injured"-"it don't really matta."-Menma. Menma was about to make a Jake Paul joke. "I remember I heard a wise man once say, Talk shit get hi"- Menma was cut off by a sound enforced punch to the face and he went flying into a tree. The sound guy didn't let up though and rushed towards Menma and pinned his hands to the tree with kunai, then proceeded to start punching and punching into him, Menma was still somewhat in shock and couldn't get a big enough time window to react and his hands were pinned so he couldn't dodge. The sound ninja wouldn't stop. He was bloodlust and wanted revenge for Menma humiliating him in front of all the genin and his teammates. Menma was starting to think he might die as blood was spewing from his mouth.

As his vision began to fade someone grabbed the sound ninjas shoulder and ripped his arm from its socket. Menma was fully aware again and managed to pull his hands out of the tree because of all the fidgeting the beating caused. Menma looked up to see Sasuke, except he was surrounded in a dark aura, and strange tattoos. And it looked like he was beating up the sound ninja with his own arm. The satisfaction the sound ninja felt from beating Menma senseless quickly turned into horror and shock from what he was experiencing. Sasuke had a sadistic smirk on his face and a sinister laugh as he continued his onslaught of the ninja, finally the sound ninja stopped making sounds.

Menma just realized what happened, so he quickly ran over to Sasuke and noticed 2 other sound ninja nearby and noticed they were bleeding from blunt force so they would be fine. He got close enough to Sasuke to pour some reserve 9 tail chakra he forgot about into Sasuke's neck to force the strange tattoos away. Sasuke came back to his senses and collapsed from the stress the aura caused and the shock of what just happened. Sakura ran over too to comfort him. "Sasuke, Sasuke, deep breaths, you need to calm down."-Menma. "Calm down? What the FUCK did I just do? I just BEAT SOMEONE TO DEATH with THEIR OWN ARM!"-Sasuke. "I know Sasuke, but don't forget, he was going to kill me and the rest of us, you saved our lives. What you did was self defense, you did it to protect your friends."-Menma. Sasuke started to calm down, and regained posture,"Uh yeah, you're right. We should check if they have a scroll."-Sasuke stated still recovering from the shock.

Menma walked over the fresh dead corpse that was still bleeding and missing an arm and turned him around so he was laying on his back and reached into his jacket pocket, luckily he did have the scroll they needed.

"Alright everyone, we got what we need, I'll go to the tower and deliver the scrolls."-Menma. "No no no, I'll do that, you have suffered enough for the week."-Sakura responded while taking the scrolls. Menma gave her a smirk and spoke,"Thank you."-Menma.

After a few days of rest

'Kurama, what did that weird snake guy mean by all seeing golden eyes?'-Menma. "This is a talk for another time, I don't think you're old enough know."-Kurama. 'Not old enough? What am I gonna have to do? wait for my birthday?'-Menma. "Maybe."-Kurama. 'Oh, ok. I guess I can wait.'-Menma.

"Menma!"-Hiruzen. "Huh what?"-Menma. "Pay attention."-Hiruzen. "Of course, please continue, sorry for the interruption."-Menma.

"Now, as I was saying, unexpectedly there are a lot of you that survived, too many actually. So to fit the required number of ninja for the last stage of the exams you will all participate in a preliminary match.

"Preliminary? What a drag."-Shikamaru

"Now, I will let the procter tell you the rules."-Hiruzen. "Hello everyone, my name is"-"cough* irrelevant side character cough*."-Menma.

The guy(that wasn't really a joke I really don't remember his name) glared at Menma a little before stating the rules. "There are 20 of you, so there will be 10 battles. There are no rules, you can lose by dying, collapsing, or admitting defeat. Although I like to keep the dead bodies to a minimum so if someone is collapsing you will be stopped from delivering a killing blow. Now does anyone want to quit?" The ninja asked.

Kabuto raised his hand, Menma wasn't surprised. "Anyone else?" Asked the ninja again. No one else raised their hand.

"Well then, let the battles commence." Stated the ninja.

Almost all the battles ended the same way, with only small details changed, like Menma cheered for Temari a little in her fight with Tenten.

Choji Akimichi vs Menma Uzumaki

"Oh, lucky me I get to fight big fella."-Menma. As they walked down Shikamaru gave Menma a serious look and said, "Make sure you dont treat Choji like you did the sound ninja."-Shikamaru. "I would never."-Menma replied in an equally serious tone.

Both Choji and Menma got into positions and the Procter gave permission for the battle to commence.

Then all of a sudden Choji fell knocked out cold.

Everyone was surprised by this, and Menma decided to make another impression to prove he's not fodder.

"Now I know you must all be confused about what just happened so let me explain, basically what just happened is I used my wood release Kekkei Genkai to make a small poisonous plant sprout out of the cracks in the tiled ground behind his legs, and I manipulated it to poke him with a thorn. Now don't worry it was a nonlethal poison only meant for making people go to sleep."-Menma.

What he did was extraordinarily impressive for someone of his rank so they couldn't help but clap their hands. 'He just becomes mevery minute!'-Temari.

"Yeah, thanks for telling us your genius tactic, now it will never work on any of us ever again."-Shikamaru.

10 minutes later

"So, I have to fight Shikamaru, I don't know about that one, I think your a bit too smart for me Shikamaru!"-Menma. No one knew whether to take him seriously or not. So Shikamaru just gave a nervous laugh.

As they all left Menma became a bit more serious and thought about how this would be his last chance even though he has a whole month. So he ran up to Temari and asked her to meet him at Ichiraku Ramen to talk. She happily accepted with a very faint blush.

29 days until final exam

Menma went through a few ramen bowls already and was beginning to think she wouldn't come. He sighed and started to think maybe he isn't good with women. And Temari was just acting nice to him, cause she pitied him in some way. Before he could stand up and tell Ayame bye a blonde haired girl entered the shop. Menma turned around and his face glew up.

"You came!"-Menma. "Of course I did, sorry I'm late. It took some convincing for them to let me leave."-Temari. "Its ok, I'm just glad you finally came, please let's talk."-Menma. Menma called Ayame to prepare a few bowls. When Ayame came out she decided she was gonna tease Menma, "Oooh, Menma is that your date you were telling us about?"-Ayame. Menma got a Hinata blush on his face while Temari blushed in surprise. "Wha-wha-what are you t-talking about I nev-never said a-anything about a d-date?!?!"-Menma spoke frantically. Ayame wasn't done yet so she decided she was gonna go even further, "Oh come on Menma don't lie, don't you remember all the things you said you were gonna do to her after you finished eating?"-Ayame. Menma's face was a deep red now as Kurama was laughing his ass off in his mind and helping Ayame tease him by putting images in his mind. Temari didn't have anything to say as she was just as red as Menma, and couldn't help but giggle a little bit at the situation and thought. "WHA-WHA-WHAT ARE Y-YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!! PL-PLEASE STOP!"-Menma.

"Ok Ayame that's enough torturing Menma, you've had your fun."-Teuchi. "Yeah ok, but judging by his reaction he was probably thinking it. "No, of course not. I wouldn't think of women in such a provocative manner."-Menma. "Yeah, suuuure you do Menma. Your probably thinking about all those curves right now aren't you?"-Ayame. Menma was defeated and dropped his head while still red to prove it. "Uh, Menma. Let's go for a walk towards a training field."-Temari. "Uh yeah, let's do that."-Menma.

About halfway there when they were leaving the main gates Kakashi passed by them and gave an approving look at Menma. "Yeah, I'm sorry about all of that happened at the Ramen place, Ayame really likes to make fun of me when there are female friends with me. "Oh it's ok, I found some of the things she said quite nice to think about." Temari replied getting within breathing distance of him. "Thot alert thot alert."-Kurama.

Menma was really red for a few seconds before she went back to regular walking distance and said she was just joking. Menma gave a nervous laugh thinking, 'Why do I always find company with these kind of women?'-Menma. "You surprise me Menma, you it were very brave and strong during the chunin exams. But now you get embarrassed by the tiniest tease."-Temari. "Yeah well I guess I'm showing you I trust you by showing you the real me."-Menma. Temari was shocked for a second. 'He already trust me enough to open up to me?'-Temari. "Ok, we're here now, training ground 7.This is where Kakashi sensei took us for our squad test."-Menma.

"So, anyways. You should show me what you got, we still have to train.

A few hours later

Menma was blown away by a another strike from her wind fan. "Wow that weapon can be very annoying."-Menma. " Yeah ranged weapons usually are. Hey It's starting to get dark so I think we should leave"-Temari. "Ok, but can I take you to one last place first?"-Menma. "Alright."-Temari.

On top of the 4th Hokage's Stone Head

"This is where I go most nights to watch the sunset, it has the best view to look off into the distance."-Menma. Temari had to admit it was an amazing sight to see. The yellow sun setting off into the horizon letting off orange rays of light. And in front of that was the endless forest of green. With birds flying high in the sky, and lastly an overview of the whole leaf village. "It is very beautiful." Temari responded with a heart warming smile. "Not as beautiful as you." Menma replied under his breath. Temari heard that and decided to lean into him.

"So, is there a reason we're on the 4th Hokage's head specifically?"-Temari. " Yes actually, The 4th Hokage was my father."-Menma. Temari's eyes widened a bit in surprise. " Yeah but he's dead now since the 9 tails attacked the village. I was 1 when that happened."-Menma. "I'm sorry to hear that."-Temari. "Yeah, it's all good. His last dying act as the savior of the village was to split the 9 tails into 2 halfs and seal them into me and my newborn brother."-Menma. Temari was very surprised to hear that he was a jinjuriki. She backed up a little in suprise, "You're a jinchuriki!?"-Temari. "Yes, but I'm a bit different from your brother. I have control, and developed a friendship with the 9 tails, turns out he even has a name. Its Kurama."-Menma. "Hello child."-Kurama. Temari was surprised, and needed a moment to take this all in. "How did you know my brother was a jinchuriki?"-Temari. "Kurama can sense tailed beast chakra."-Menma. "I see."-Temari.

Temari wasn't very sure of herself for a minute because of all this new information. So she just wanted to ask one last question. "So, how did you become friends with this Kurama if he killed your parents?"-Temari. "I'll let Kurama answer that for you."-Menma.

"I Originally viewed myself as a being made out of pure hatred, everybody I was sealed in to after the 1st Hokage captured me were all the same. They were all different people, usually Uzumakis, but they all said the same thing. They wanted to treat me like I didn't exist, they just wanted me to stay there and be quiet for the rest of eternity. Then when a masked man released me from Kushina after Barutos birth, I was finally free once again and I didn't wanna be put back into another body to be forgotten about for the next few decades. So I attempted to kill both the kids so that I Couldn't be sealed but Kushina and Minato got in the way, And severed me in half and sealed me in the 2 Infants. I was understandably mad after that, But eventually as the years passed my anger grew even further, not for the people I was sealed inside of but for the people who were supposed to take care of them."-Kurama. Temari was confused after hearing that last part. "Instead of taking care of the parentless kids what they did was blame them for the attack on the village so they took out their anger on him by adopting them, then starving them, and beating them until they nearly died. Eventually I had watched enough of it and took action by killing and torturing a group of these parents."-Kurama. Temari got a strange satisfaction from hearing that. "And eventually the villagers caught on to this, and I was unluckily sleeping at the time, But luckily the ninja Kakashi Hatake saved them and adopted them and adopted them himself. After that life has been a lot better. Even after I told them about his time as a baby and what I did to his parents he didn't shun me like all the other host, he remained my friend."-Kurama.

This was a lot to take in for Temari, she felt a lot closer to Menma now, but after hearing about the villagers she felt a lot less reluctant about destroying the leaf, she also felt more sympathetic towards Gaara."How do you have such a positive attitude after all the villagers have done?"-Temari. "Well, I guess I will never truly forgive them. But I am better than them, they are all to ignorant in a certain way to take their anger out on a child. But it's not entirely there fault, the 9 tails did destroy a lot of their homes and killed a lot of them, so it makes sense that they are angry. And besides, there is only a few people who know what actually happened that night. Everyone else only think that the 9 tails manifested into a child."-Menma. Temari was surprised to hear what he said, but then smiled. She felt an even deeper respect for him now and she understood what he said and wasn't sure about destroying the village again, but she needed to know another thing. "Who are these few people who know what happened? And if so why don't they tell the village?"-Temari. "Well there is the 3rd Hokage Hiruzen, and the masked man who started the entire tragedy, Madara Uchiha." Menma told with a scent of venom on the name Madara. Temari didn't recognize the Madara one but she knew the 3rd. "Why doesn't Hiruzen tell the village then?"-Temari. "I guess Hiruzen lost his back bone after that event, he doesn't have the energy to deal with the counsel anymore, he shouldn't even be Hokage anymore at his age, that's why Minato was elected, but is still love him like a grandfather, he's always treated me right. Besides, I'm not worried about what they think anymore, I have friends now that care for me, like Kurama, the other Konaha rookies. And hopefully you."-Menma. Temari was surprised by his words for a minute. Menma was an amazing person to her, he was one of the bravest men she's met, he was handsome, kind, strong, and was completely open and honest with her, which she admired the most. She also envied him at the same time by realizing him, Naruto and her brother were quite similar, the only difference is that unluckily for Gaara he never had someone save him from all his suffering. She almost cried a tear of joy and the happiest of smiles from having met such a guy. And she ran over to him and gave him a passionate warm embrace and told him, "I think I'm in love! Please, let's continue our conversation and training tomorrow."-Temari. Menma was more than happy to accept, and they said their good byes for now.

Nighttime-Menma

Menma opened the door to his home after scaling across rooftops. He was gonna sneak into his room but when he opened the door to his room Kakashi turned on the lights and was sitting in a chair waiting in a cliche father kind of way. "Your sure home late, you weren't doing anything special with Temari were you?"-Kakashi said with a questioning look. Menma blushed a little, "No, OF COURSE NOT! I'm too young for that kind of thing. She said she loved me after I told her my past, and gave me a hug."-Menma. Kakashi gave him an observing stare for a second to make sure he was telling the truth. Eventually he was convinced that he was being told the truth and he burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! You only got a hug! Hahahaha!"-Kakashi.

Menma blushed in embarrassment and retaliated, "Shut up! You haven't had any girlfriend sat all and your 30!"-Menma. Kakashi's hysterical laughs turned into slightly embarrassed ones and he replied, "Well you got me there. So, what do you like about her anyway?"-Kakashi.

"Well she's extremely beautiful, smart, has great manners, has good tactics, strong in battle, she's the only other genin my age, and most importantly she accepted me after I told her about my past even though she's from another village."-Menma.

"Good job Menma, you have good taste. Now if only Naruto was more like you in that regard when it comes to good taste."-Kakashi. They both nonverbally knew exactly who he was talking about. "Yeeeaaah, maybe he would notice if that Hinata girl was more outgoing. I don't understand how he doesn't see it, she loved him before anyone else did."-Menma. "Well, I guess we can talk about that another time, it's late. So goodnight."-Kakashi. Menma smiled up at his adoptive father and went to bed.

Nighttime-Temari

Temari opened up her bedroom window to sneak in but unlucky for her Kankuro was still awake. "You were hanging out with that Menma guy weren't you?"-Kankuro. "Yes, and what of it?"-Temari. "Don't get too close to him, remember we're here for a reason. And if you forgot that reason some people might need to have a "talk" with this Menma guy."-Kankuro. That last thing he said set her off some. She grabbed him by the collar and told him "If you get involved in my business your gonna regret it deeply puppet boy!"-Temari.

"Ok Ok, it was just a joke! So, what do you like about him anyway?"-Kankaro. She let go of his collar and replied, "Well, what's not to love about him? He has such a kind attitude, he's confident in his own strength, he's handsome, he's strong, and he's so honest with me! Which is what I love the most and"- Temari realized now that both Gaara and Kankuro were listening now, Kankuro was smiling, "Please continue." Kankuro asked trying not to laugh. Temari flipped him off before going to sleep.

28 days until final exam

The next morning Temari and Menma met again near the training ground 7 again, except they were near a waterfall this time playing some game hoping on rocks in the water. Also while him and Temari spend time together Menma sent a few wood clones with Naruto to spend time with him and Jiraiya.

"So I told you about my past so how about you tell me something about your past?"-Menma. Temari gave a sad smile for a minute. There isn't really a whole lot to know, my brothers are Kankuro and Gaara, And I'm the daughter of the 4th Kazekage. We are known as the 3 sand siblings and I never really had many friends growing up because of Gaara, but Gaara's childhood was the worst out of all of ours. He was shunned like you, but he was never tortured or anything because people were very scared of him because his ability's killed people, His own father the 4th Kazekage attempted to murder him multiple times, that might have something to do with how his birth killed our mother. Before he really became shunned me and my brother used to hang out with him and he would build amazing looking things out of sand, but we never really talked to him. He was alone and he never had any friends and and his one tailed beast inside of him never communicated with him. The only person who was his light in the darkness was his uncle, but eventually, even he tried to kill him."-Temari. She shed a little tear. "Maybe, If I tried to talk to him and be like an actual sister to him maybe he would have ended up differently."-Temari.

She started to shed some more tears so Menma walked over to comfort her. "Hey it's not your fault that you were afraid of him, and besides he's still only 13 so things can still be different, you just have to open up to him more."-Menma. Temari stopped shedding tears and gave him a hug, you're right, maybe I could try to talk to him when we go back home"-Temari.

Temari forgetting what they were doing lost her balance and was gonna fall off of the small rock. But Menma jumped onto the medium sized rock and grabbed her hand pulling her up close to him.

She was grateful but then realized how close they were to each other. Being so close to him she realized just how handsome he was with his short red bangs, and his ocean blue and blood red eyes, That went with his slightly tanned blemishless skin. Menma also noticed her deep teal eyes and perfect white skin with her nice sandy blonde hair.

She decided to thank him by giving him his first kiss. She pulled him in even closer and gave him a deep passionate kiss, they stayed like that for a while before they heard some cheering coming from the side of the waterfall, they looked over and saw Kuranai's squad, Asuma's squad, Gai's squad, and Kakashi with his squad with him.

That was very embarrassing for both of them. And it was clear that Kakashi was the one that brought them all there after their conversation last night. Menma was red faced and speechless. Temari on the other hand was a little mad that they intruded on there special first kiss, but before she could say anything Menma spoke up. "Haven't any of you ever heard of privacy? This is supposed to be a special moment for us. Your really just gonna ruin it because all of you are still single?"-Menma.

A lot of the guys and girls there felt some shots fired. They weren't cheering anymore. "Yeah. I thought so. We can all talk about this later."-Menma.

They started to leave, but Naruto said, "Sorry Menma, we were all just"-"leaving."-Menma.

They all left then, Menma knew it wasn't that big of a deal, but he needed to show he was brave in front of her so she wouldn't think lowly of him. Temari was glad that Menma said something, she thought he wouldn't for a minute. They unconsciously backed up from the waterfall onto land while they were talking and Temari was so glad she was wrong about Menma's bravery that she tackled Menma right there on the ground and started kissing him furiously.

The entire week was a great one, they continued their training and love making for the next few days former deciding that instead of bringing their own food they should go to a place to eat, and Menma wasn't embarrassed about what Ayame said anymore because she was right about a couple of things, but nothing that dirty... yet.

21 days until final exams

"Are you sure?"-Temari. "Yes, it will be worth it."-Menma. "I don't think I'd be able to take all that in."-Temari. "Well you don't know until you try. I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to, but I think It will be delicious!"-Menma. "Ok, let's do it then!"-Temari. "Atta girl! Now open wiiiide."-Menma.

Menma used the chopsticks to feed her the miso ramen. Her taste buds went ecstatic after savoring the taste of the noodles. "Soooo, what did you think?"-Menma.

Temari snatched the Chopsticks from him and dug in, she ate almost as fast as he could but still didn't make a single mess or spill. Once she finished the bowl she smiled at Menma and gave him a ramen flavored kiss for a few seconds. "It was amazing, that was one of the best things I've ever had!"-Temari. "I knew you'd love it! Ayame, 4 more bowls please!"-Menma. Ayame was surprised that they actually ended up together, she wondered if what she said had anything to do with that. But she decided she tortured him Menma enough so she would let him have his fun now. Although she was glad that he was finally able to find love. Temari had the most joyful smile of her entire life on her face as she thought, 'Oooh, I don't deserve someone this perfect. I hope he doesn't spoil me.'-Temari.

For the next 2 week everything was good, Menma's clone and Naruto learned the toad summon with Jiraiya, and Menma's relationship with Temari only grew by taking her to monuments and bonding. Later that day Temari decided she grew to really love the Leaf, and couldn't destroy it like she was suppose to. So she was going to reveal a huge secret to Menma

7 days until final exams

As they cuddled into each other on top of the 4ths head like they always do Temari had to tell him something. "Menma I have to tell you something, but if I tell you please try to understand what I'm saying, and don't jump to any conclusions because what I will say could potentially end our relationship."-Temari. Menma gave a serious and confused look at her and nodded for her to proceed.

3 minutes later

Menma was left speechless, they planned to destroy the village to retain power, because they didn't like a treaty. Temari looked at him and was starting to become teary eyed as he just stared at her. After a few seconds she hugged him, "MENMA, Menma, please understand why I'm telling you this, I DON'T WANT this to happen to US, I still LOVE YOU! Please say SOMETHING! PLEASE!" Temari begged for her lover to respond. Menma grabbed one of her hands and separated himself from her so he could stare at her.

"I still love you, in fact, this is extraordinarily brave of you to betray your village by telling me this." Memma finally responded with a smile. "I should warn everyone about this as soon as poss"- Menma was cut off by Temari's kiss. She was so happy he still loved her after what she said that she couldn't hold back. 'Maaaybe warning everyone can wait.' Menma thought as they both fell to their knees, they both started to feel the heat of love and passion that late evening sunset.

Unlike all the other nights they actually fell asleep on top of the 4ths head.

Some of these characters seem a little ooc, especially Temari. But it is an AU story so there are gonna be some changes, but don't worry, it gets toned down a lot after this chapter.


	3. Origins Part 3

6 days until final exams

The next morning starts back at the Hokage mansion. Where Inochi was setting up a link between Hiruzen and the all the Leaf Ninja except for the Konoha Rookies.

Temari was sleeping in bed back at Menma's, while he was talking to Kakashi and Hiruzen. "So, this is the plan. We will set up jonin around the walls of the village to ambush sand ninja outside. And Jiraiya has been ordered to stay in the village to fight any possible summons, also we will pretend that the exams are going to go along like they usually do, but when Gaara fights Sasuke and goes crazed, we will all strike as soon as the Sand does, the reason we dont attack them before that is because we will look bad if we attack out of nowwhere. Now the way we will be able to act this out most efficiently is by setting up at least 5 Anbu in each section of the stadium, and one of them will be a sensory type to point out sand ninjas possibly in disguise. And Menma, since you and Naruto are both jinchuriki you will most likely have the best chance at fighting Gaara so, train hard. Also on lower scale battles we will disguise ninja as low level chunin and ninja will blend in with the environment, also in the few days you have to prepare plan tactics and set up traps. And I will fight the Kazekage myself. I am known as the strongest of the 5 Kage after all. Is that understood?"-Hiruzen.

"HAI!"-Everyone.

"But Hiruzen, what if the Kazekage is stronger than you expect, or has a trap or has multiple people with him?" His Anbu guard asked. "I am prepared to face anyone who threatens the village without mercy, but before we will most likely battle, I will give him a chance that things can still be worked out diplomatically. I would rather you not risk your lives in a battle I am perfectly capable of handling. "-Hiruzen.

"Understood sir."-Anbu.

For the entire week the whole village was quiet everyone was preparing for what would happen. Also while the fighting is happening I will refer to both the sound and sand ninja as just the sand, because it saves time.

0 days until final exams

It was Round 3 of the Chunin exams now. Shikamaru was suppose to fight Menma before Temari but Menma was nowhere to be seen, and after Temaris victory via forfeit she waited in the stands with Kankuro to play out the mission. It took some convincing, but Temari told him that the Leaf knows everything, and the only way that this would end positively for the Sand is if they would work with them, so the 3rd can try to convince the Kazekage to stop, and so their brother could survive. Kankuro didn't seem like it, but he still cared for his brother. So what they would do is take Gaara away like planned to help him heal, but once they are isolated they would let Menma and Naruto take care of him.

All at once beads of sweat started to form on some ninjas face as they knew what was going to happen, then it did happen.

All of a sudden all of the feudal lords and people were put under a sleep genjutsu. But as soon as the ninja did so they were taken out by Anbu. And then a beast resembling a hydra was summoned a small distance from the village, but Jiraiya quickly summoned Gamabunta in response and had a medium duration fight with him. Next was the Sand ninja trying to invade from the outside walls into the village were ambushed by Jonin and some Anbu and were subdued. Next was the sand that were attacking while already inside the village, some groups were ambushed, and others had fights with Anbu and Jonin. But the most that the Leaf suffered were some injuries because they prepared for this attack, and the other side was mostly captured but had a fair amount of deaths. Next there were only 2 battles left. The 2 Kage, and Gaara's battle with Menma and Naruto.

Outside the village walls

Gaara was clearly beyond reason and was crazed by the 1 tails. So Menma and Naruto both had the mindset that they didn't want to kill Gaara as they ran to catch up, but they would need to drain him of chakra so they would be able to

COUGH* talk no jutsu COUGH* Gaara.

Temari and Kankuro looked at each other and nodded before letting go of Gaara.

"What do think you're doing?"-Gaara. "Gaara, you need to understand, we're doing this because we love you. Please calm down, let Menma and Naruto talk to you, you don't have to be alone."-Temari replied trying to sound strong, but starting to quiver by being near him.

Gaara was shocked by being betrayed, but hesitated for a second at the same time. "Soooo, it seems you have BETRAYED ME, so you will be my PREY!!!" Gaara yelled as he grew an arm and shot out at Temari and Kankuro.

Temari was able to clear out of the way, but Kankuro wasn't so lucky, and got stabbed through the shoulder blade by a nail. Gaara retracted his hand from Kankuro. "KANKURO!!"-Temari yelled as she jumped over to him. But when she reached him Gaara stretched out his arm again to kill them both. But before he could finish them off he was intercepted by Menma's kyuubi chakra enhanced arm. Menma quickly channeled the Kyuubi chakra into Gaaras Shukaku arm. The arm burned and fell off before he grew a new one. 'Damn, it's so painful to use kyuubi chakra!'-Menma. "Menma, I don't think you ever got rid of the seal Orochimaru placed on you."-Kurama. Menma just had a flashback to when he went 3 tails chakra cloak on Orochimaru, and he knocked him out by placing that seal on him. "Damn. I guess I won't be able to use your chakra for a while. That's gonna make this a lot harder."-Menma.

Kankuro was leaking blood from his shoulder blade and had some blood coming out of his mouth. "Hang in there Kankuro! Don't die on ME!"-Menma.

Temari was safe for now, she was hiding behind a tree with her head in between her hands rocking back and forth a tiny bit. She clearly had PTSD of Gaara transforming before. 'Oh God wwwwhhhhyyyy. Why is this happening again. Pleeaaase, Menma, stop him.'-Temari thought crying some.

Garra transformed furthur, and now grew a tail. "Damn, he's only getting more dangerous, come on! We gotta end this fast!"-Naruto.

Menma and Naruto summoned up 30 clones each and they all charged at him throwing kunai and shuriken. Gaara used a Sandstorm Jutsu to blow them all away and used his tail to whip all the ones behind him, making them puff away. But he was caught off guard by a Menma clone that slammed down on him with a drop kick. Or so he thought, because the kick got intercepted by his sand barrier which grabbed onto the clone and slammed him into a tree.

"Damn, not fast enough."-Menma. Gaara forthur transformed and now his entire face looked like Shukaku.

Menma decided to use about half his chakra, and Naruto used up the little chakra he had left. Menma created about 1,200 clones and Naruto created 200.

The amount of clones should be incredibly over whelming, and it was working. Gaara wasn't able to block so many enemies at once and after destroying about 600 clones his defence was being broken and after another 200 clones were destroyed his Shukaku arm got cut off again and he was kicked hard enough by 5 clones at once to send him flying through a few trees before he hit a tree hard and his Shukaku arm shredded off. He had some blood coming from his mouth now and he was aggravated. His arms quickly grew back and looked at his surroundings.

He noticed in his Peripheral vision. Vision a girl. It was Temari now with a face of horror looking at Gaara's nearly complete transformation. Her legs turned to jelly and her body became ice as he glared at her. Gaara mumbled traitor and decided to end her life right there as he thrusted his Shukaku arm at her to pierce right through her heart.

Menma's 600 clones remaining saw this, and acting off of Menma's will and they all jumped in front of her and channeled their chakra defensively and got into a blocking position.

Gaara's arm was able to clear through the first 300 but started to slow down at the next 200, and finally with the last 300 he barely passed the last 10 before Menma was able to force Kyuubi chakra out of the 5 pronged seal and channeled enough of the chakra to slice right through his hand, and glide up it towards his body before channeling the little kyuubi chakra he had left into a punch to his chest, which punctured right through the Shikaku armor and made him go flying through several trees again before Naruto who was waiting at the other end after channeling kyuubi chakra, used a couple of shadow clones to throw him above the trees, and then summoned another clone to throw him at Gaara before doing a flipping axe kick with a clone to slam Gaara into the ground, which ended his transformation and created a shockwave around them. Letting him transform back to normal.

Menma checked on Temari cupping her cheeks before saying, "Temari, Temari! Calm down it's over now. He's done for!"-Menma confirmed kissing her as reassurance. Temari snapped out of her PTSD and nodded back at him before kissing him back and saying, "Uh yes. Yes. Thank you, for everything you've done for me and my family, I'm gonna... I'm gonna check on Kankuro."-Temari replied in a recovering voice. Menma nodded at her and ran towards Naruto's location.

Gaara just layed there realizing he was defeated, less angry than he was, but still a little angry. He thought about the battle, how Menma and Naruto put themselves in harm's way, putting their existence at stake to protect them. "Why."-Gaara.

"Hm?"-Naruto. "Why did you do this? Why would you protect them? Why not just let me kill them?"-Gaara. Both Naruto and Menma gave a knowing look to each other before speaking. "Because, that's not how you treat your friends. Or your village."-Naruto. "HOW DID YOU BECOME SO STONG DURING THE BATTLE!?! THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS FRIENDS, ALL THEY ARE, OBSTACLES THAT WILL BETRAY YOU LATER TO PRESERVE THEIR OWN EXISTENCE!"-Gaara yelled angered by his compassion.

Naruto and Menma shed some tears hearing that, they knew his life as a jinchuriki was even worse than there own. He never had a brother to find comfort in, and the only true companion he knew later tried to kill him.

"No, you're wrong. A real friend, is someone who you love and care for in their dark times, someone you can spend time with and have a good laugh and a good time, someone you protect, and give your life for so they can survive if need be."-Menma.

"The reason we became strong is because seeing our friends suffer because of you fueled our bodies with the necessary power to protect them. The worse scum of all is someone who would betray their friend to save their own life."-Naruto.

"And we can be that real friend for you. You and us are all the same. You had a horrible childhood, being neglected and not having a family that loved you, and the only person who did care for you eventually tried to kill you as well. We are Jinchuriki as well, we know your pain."-Menma.

Gaara was shocked by this, not only did they cry for him the enemy, but they were offering to be his friend, after he attacked their village, "How, how do I know you wouldn't betray me as well?"-Gaara.

"Because, we know what it's like to be betrayed."-Naruto. "We have been betrayed the entirety of our early life."-Menma. "Our parents were killed when we were babies, and our village blamed it on us, so we were neglected, insulted, and abused."-Naruto. "We would be adopted by villagers, expecting them to care for us, but all they did was torture us through malnourishment and abuse."-Menma. "The only reason we ended up like this is because one day someone became our sunlight, and saved us. Guiding us towards better lives."-Naruto. "So, if that didn't happen we could have ended up just like you. But, it's not too late for you, we can be that sunlight to guide you towards the path of good."-Menma stated reaching out his hand with a smile. "So, you know we won't betray you because we experienced the same pain. So what do you say?"-Naruto stated also reaching out a hand also with a smile.

Gaara was taken back, these 2 people were unbelievable. They lived just like him, but ended up good, and now they are giving him the chance to join them on the side of righteousness. Gaara wasn't completely sure at first, but realized they wouldn't betray him because they shared the same pain.

So Gaara had a genuine smile on his face, one he hasn't had sense his uncle was alive. So with a smile on his face he reached out to both their hands and stood up. "I... I will try."-Gaara. It was now Gaaras turn to cry some joyful tears along with Menma and Naruto, he hasn't felt true happiness in the longest time.

"Alrighty then, let's go back to check on Temari and Kankuro."-Menma.

They returned to his brother and sister and were introduced to a crying Temari. And a still Kankuro.

Menma ran over to her and asked, "What's wrong?"-Menma. Temari looked up at him with red eyes and replied, "Kankuro... Kankuros... Kankuros, gonna die."-Temari.

All their eyes widened at this but Gaaras eyes widened the most. Gaaras tears of joy quickly turned to tears of sadness, after realizing he had killed his own brother. Gaara got on his knees after that and was sniffling some. Temari still crying realized this and was shocked.

Kankuro, was still bleeding out of his upper chest and saw Gaara and smiled.

"Gaara, don't be sad about this. It wasn't your fault. It was Shukakus, and Bakis for making you the Sands weapon."-Kankuro.

Gaara was still crying and replied, "But Shukaku was acting off of my blood thristed will. I KILLED YOU!"-Gaara.

Kankuro smiled at him again, "Gaara, I forgive you. I should apologize to you, when we were young kids. I never tried to talk to you, and I mostly stayed away from you because I was scared. But now, look at you. You're an entirely different person now. You know what you've done wrong, and your sorry, so I'm sorry for never being there for you. Please put the blame on me. Now go. And take care of the village, make sure Baki doesn't become leader, and keep on remembering that you will always have friends."-Kankuro stated looking at Menma and Naruto.

"And don't forget you have a sister, she still loves you. Even after all you've done, so please stay good. Forgive Shikaku and become friends with him. And remember, no matter what."-Kankuro stated bringing in Gaara closer. "Your Brother, me. Kankuro, will always love you."-Kankuro stated gagging on his last breath coughing blood. "So you, another time... in Heaven."-Kankuro.

(Pure world, heaven, same thing doesn't matter)

Kankuro now layed there lifeless, and Gaara took all his words to heart, before collapsing there in tears. Temari got closer to a now reformed Gaara and comforted him. "Go Menma, check on the Hokage. I will take things from here."-Temari stated with little confidence returning to her voice.

Menma nodded and waved his hand to signal Naruto to follow him back to the village. Menma and Naruto didn't know him well, but they were saddened he had to die. But he had to remain focused, and he was now going to check on the Hokage remembering he had to fight the Kazekage.

10 minutes later back at the final exams arena

Menma was now back in the village , and instantly noticed a gigantic rectangular prism made out of dark chakra.

Menma told Naruto to go check on Kakashi and Gai while he leaped towards his current center of attention.

Menma noticed a burned body as he landed on the roof and saw anbu standing outside of it. "What's going on here?"-Menma. The Anbu flared at him under his mask and told him, "None of your concern."-Anbu.

Menma was already having a shit day, the village was attacked and his girlfriends brother just died, so he was rightfully pissed off.

He walked over to the Anbu and grabbed him by the shirt pulling him down onto his knees and used the 3/4ths of his chakra he regenerated to pressurize the air around him, making the tiles beneath him crack and the Anbus mask to crack. "I'm gonna ask again. What. Is. Going. On?"-Menma stated getting closer to him with each word.

Another Anbu nearby answered his question and calmly stated, "The 3rd is fighting Orochimaru right now, hes had a lot of trouble with the reanimation jutsu. But he sealed the first 2 Hokage some how."-Anbu. Menma gave him a small smirk as a thank you before letting go of the anbu in his hands and ran towards the barrier to look in. "Watch out, if you touch that it will set you on fire."-Anbu.

Menma looked inside using Kurama as his eyes to see clearer was horrified by what he saw. A monkey was trying to stop a sword from stabbing all the way through Hiruzen while Hiruzen was holding on to Orochimaru with a hand grabbing his soul, and the reaper behind him.

Hiruzen was like a grandfather for Menma, so he was horrified at the thought of him using that jutsu.

"HIRUZEN!!!"-Menma. Hiruzen heard him yell and glanced over at Menma, he didn't want him to see him like this.

"Menma, how was your battle with Gaara?"-Hiruzen. "It went well, I've defeated him, and he's seen the error of his ways."-Menma.

Hiruzen smiled at this, "You and Naruto were always the redeeming type."-Hiruzen said to himself before losing his smile.

Menma quickly wiped away his tears and said, "Hiruzen I have to get you out of there!"-Menma yelled before trying to force kyuubi chakra out of his seal to destroy the barrier.

"MENMA, STOP!"-Hiruzen. "NO, I have to GET you out of THERE! You CAN'T DIE!"-Menma. "NO MENMA, YOU ALREADY KNOW ITS TO LATE! THE REAPER JUTSU HAS ALREADY BEEN ACTIVATED! BESIDES IF YOU FORCE OUT TOO MUCH CHAKRA THAT SEAL WILL KILL YOU!"-Hiruzen.

Menma stopped trying to force out chakra. "But Hiruzen, you're gonna die."-Menma. Hiruzen smiled at him again, "My body may die, but as long as the Will of Fire last, I will always be alive. I believe you and Naruto will lead the village to a brighter day. Show the world that Jinchuriki are not evil, and end the cycle of hatred."-Hiruzen.

Menma had more tears coming out of his eyes, but he nodded his head in understanding. "Menma, I now will pass on my Will of Fire, to you. And one lat thing, make sure Danzo doesn't become Hokage."-Hiruzen announced before putting all of his strength into one last pull on Orochimaru's soul before cutting his astral arms off.

"I MAY BE TOO WEAK AND OLD TO BRING YOU WITH ME, BUT I WILL TAKE AWAY YOUR ABILITY TO CONJURE JUTSU AS PUNISHMENT FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE!"-Hiruzen.

Orochimaru was infuriated at what his old sensei has done and started cursing at him as his vision began to fade and he dropped dead onto the ground. His monkey summon disappeared.

Menma wasn't sobbing anymore, his face just layed low and some tears were still streaming down from his cheeks.

Orochimaru ordered the barrier to be dropped, and said it was time to leave. As Orochimaru and the sound 4 jumped away to leave the village Menma went through some of the stages of grief in a mixed order.

First, he felt some denial, that he might still be alive, but quickly dropped that.

Then depression, remembering all the good times they shared. But then he remembered he inherited his Will of Fire.

Next was acceptance, and he knew he had to think about the future for him and Naruto.

But then, there was anger. He realized that the person who cut him down was about to get away with it. He knew revenge wouldn't bring him back, but it felt wrong to let such an evil remain free after his horrible crimes.

So after that realization, he didn't care if it killed him. Kurama was going to object, but he knew Menma's mind was already set.

So Menma stood up and became surrounded with dark red chakra and transformed into a 4 tails cloak with an excruciating scream of anger and pain.

Orochimaru and the sound 4 turned around and Orochimaru had a fearful look in his eyes, the seal he placed on him shouldn't have let him do this. "QUICKLY! ACTIVATE THE TRIPLE RASHOMON WALLS!"-Orochimaru.

They quickly got into a quick formation activating their second stage curse mark before they all summoned it at once.

Menma charged up a tailed beast bomb with all his chakra, and swallowed it whole, before shooting it back out.

The tailed beast bomb cleared the 1st wall, struggled on the second and just barely got past the 3rd before continuing its course towards the group of 5.

But before it could reach the the one with 4 arms shot a strange web at it stopping the weakened Ball of destruction in its tracks. And they escaped.

There was no damage to the village before Menma launched that attack, but when he did it destroyed a portion of the Leafs wall.

Menma lost his adrenaline rush and started to feel all of the burning pain this form caused and quickly tried to get out of the form. His 4 cloaked form began to become thinner before shedding off revealing a moderately burned Menma.

The pain felt excruciating and he fell on his knees screaming.

Kakashi and Naruto were done defending the stadium and reached where Menma was.

Kakashi ran over to his son and put him in his arms with a worried expression. "Menma! Are you ok? What happened?"-Kakashi.

Menma looked up to Kakashi with a emotionally and physically pained expression before he suppressed the pain to speak. "I failed."-Menma.

"Failed at what?"-Kakashi. "Saving Hiruzen, and avenging him."-Menma.

Menma's pain was finnaly too much to handle, and he become unconscious.

Kakshi thought about what he said before giving Menma to Naruto and running towards the small forest to see what he was talking about.

And to his horror he saw a dead Hiruzen lying there with a hole in his chest. Kakashi's eyes widened so much he accidentally opened his sharingan eye. Before walking over to him and picking up his body beaten body before walking out of the forest and everyone saw the 3rd's body, everyone had their own reaction. Some had tears, some dropped their head, and Naruto sobbed.

Hokage's Funeral Day

Menma had forced himself to get out of bed to go to the funeral, which didn't help his healing process, but Jiraiya dropped by and finnaly took away the 5 pronged seal off of Menma, so he finnaly felt a little like his old self.

But now, was the funeral. It was a rainy day, and there was the Hokages picture in the center. As the only victim of this battle.

Menma stood there next to Naruto and looked to his left to see Konahamaru with a strained face, he was trying not to cry.

"Why are you holding back your tears?"-Menma. "A real man doesn't cry!" Konahamaru replied with a bit of wavering in his voice. Menma smiled at him and simply said, "No Konahamaru, a real man is someone who isn't afraid to cry, or to express sad emotions In public."-Menma.

Konahamaru realized that he was right, and stopped trying to hold himself back, a single tear fell from his eye, and then more came, until he was in a light sob. Menma hugged him as comfort, and Iruka smiled at him.

A co ui please minutes later he was in line to lay down a lily on the table with the rest, he realized he forced himself to come here so it didn't cross his mind. So he simply used his Kekki Genkai to form a lily in his hand and lay it down with the rest.

Not much else happened that day, but Menma did make a promise to the 3rd Hokage, he would find Orochimaru, and he would make him feel the pain he has, and maybe even worse for all the others he's hurt.

Although Menma wasn't fully healed yet, and infact, a part of him wasn't healing, there was something underneath his skin that was messing with his spinal cord. And Kurama couldn't get rid of it cause it somehow didn't react to chakra, so Menma was going to be stuck in bed for an unknown amount of time. And none of the nurses could do anything, either because they didn't know how too or they didn't want to.

But not known to his knowledge Naruto and Jiraiya left on a trip to bring someone back to the village. This person is suppose to become Hokage to stop the panic of the people.

Just so you know Naruto isn't really the Main Main character in the story so I'm skipping when he retrieves Tsunade, just assume he brought Tsunade back to the village to heal Menma and become Hokage.

2 Weeks Later

Menma woke up from his short coma and rose from his bed. He tried to land on the ground but fell onto his knees. "So, you're finnaly awake, that's good, but don't try to stand yet. You still need to recover. All of your physical injuries are healed, but somehow because you had that 5 pronged seal on for so long some kind of parasite manifested and attached itself to your spine. You won't be able to walk until it's gone."-Kurama.

"Not walk? Damn."-Menma. Menma crawled over to a chair that was at the corner of the room, and lifted himself on it. Once he was in a comfortable position he firmly placed his hands on the arm rests of the chair and started channeling wood chakra into them.

The wood wrapped itself around the legs of the chair before reaching the bottom of the legs and turning into 2 big wheels. "That's quite crafty of you to make your own wheelchair."-Kurama.

Menma didn't respond, and rolled into the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. His eyes became a lot more vivid. His red eye was more of a ruby red now, and his blue eye was kind of a mix of aqua and cyan, but much brighter. His eyes kinda looked like jewels now.

That was pretty cool to him, but something else he noticed was that his hair wasn't as red as before. Now at the ends of his hair that was once a Uzumaki red, were now all white.

"What the hell is wrong with the ends of my hair? IS THE PARASITE MAKING ME OLD!?!?!??!"-Menma. "My guess, is that because of all the stress you've been under for so long, your hair is losing its life."-Kurama.

"Damn. Can you do anything about that? White hair is cool, Kakashi has it. But it doesn't really mix well with red."-Menma. "I can't really do anything about that, it's not an injury. All you can do is use a partial transformation jutsu to disguise it."-Kurama.

"Damn, well... I guess it can't be helped, maybe I'll get use to the hair. At least it's just the ends of my hair and not the whole thing."-Menma.

Menma rolled back to his bed and lifted himself into it.

Right at that moment Naruto walked into the room. "Menma? What's wrong with your hair?"-Naruto. "Oh, it's just because of stress, its whatever. Anyways so you have any good news for me?"-Menma.

Naruto nodded his head and stepped aside so a tall blonde haired lady could walk in. She had a diamond on her head, and she had a very unavoidable feature on her. 'Bro, those breast, can not be real. Those are at least 3ft long! I don't really look at women's body like this, but, it's kinda impossible for this lady. Those must be at LEAST 30% of her body weight.'-Menma.

Tsunade was getting kinda annoyed now, and punched him on the head to bring him back to reality. "OW! Damn, sorry. It's just distracting."-Menma. *clears throat "My name is Menma Uzumaki, who are you and why are you here?"-Menma asked curiously. Tsunade smiled at the formality and replied "I am Tsunade Senju. I was sent here because I'm the best medical ninja in the world, and I'm suppose to take my seat as 5th Hokage. Man, I feel bad for you, all the stress you've had turned some of your hair white."-Tsunade.

"Oh yeah, I was a bit upset at first about it, but eventually I go"- Menma stopped mid speech and just realized something she said. 'Wait... take her seat as the 5th Hokage. Waaaaiiiiit. That means...'-Menma.

"So, you're gonna be Hokage... you know, our mother wanted to be the first female Hokage when she was young."-Menma reminisced sadly. Naruto was just born when everything went wrong, so he didn't really know much about his family besides some things Menma told him that he learned from Kurama, so he simply smiled.

Tsunade, gave him a sad smile and put a hand on his shoulder before saying, "We should do the procedure now."-Tsunade.

Menma nodded and pulled of his shirt and turned around so her back back was facing Tsunade. Rsunade noticed that in some areas he had very hard to notice scars in a whip type fashion on his back. She assumed the Kyuubi did a good job at healing his wounds, but her trained medical eyes were good at finding things like that. "Where did you get those scars from?"-Tsunade. Menma spoke in a saddened voice and simply said, "These scars are from the worst monster of all, known simply as when humans fall prey to their imagination and thoughts."-Menma.

Tsunade pondered on the cryptic response before slightly understanding and growling in disappointment. "I didn't say anything bad did I?"-Menma. "No of course not, it's not you."-Tsunade.

Tsunade found Menma to be a interesting individual, he definitely didn't seem as light hearted as Naruto. But Tsunade liked him anyway for some reason. "Sorry for him being like this, he gets like this when he talks about the past. Hes usually the biggest clown around!"-Naruto. Tsunade was a bit surprised to hear that, but hearing that gave Menma a sense of Charisma and Maturity to him. That gave Tsunade a respect for him.

Although she was waiting time, she had Lee to take care of after this.

30 Minutes Later

Tsunade had created a small incision on the middle of his back where the parasite was and was currently analyzing the problem. "Well, thankfully, this thing isn't merged to your spinal cord, it's only attached to it. But I dont know what the hell this thing is. It's a maroon color and has a worm looking body, but it looks like tangled worms. "Ooooohhhh, that is disgusting, please kill it."-Menma. "Don't worry."-Tsunade.

Tsunade picked up a scalpel and dipped it in a glass of fire chakra solution and touched the worm with it to see how it would react. The worm instantly attached itself to the knife and Tsunade quickly pulled it out and put it in a empty jar for research later. 'It seems to react to hot chakras.'-Tsunade.

Tsunade backed off and Menmas wound healed almost instantly. He sat up, and put both on the ground before standing. "YES! I CAN WALK AGAIN!"-Menma.

"That's great, well. I should get to the other ninja now."-Tsunade.

That's chapter 3, chapter 5 will be the last origins chapter before we get to Menmas quest for Vengeance


	4. Origins Part 4

Menma already ready to start doing missions again as soon as Tsunade left the room.

Menma jumped out of the window and jumped onto the roof and breathed in a deep breath, but he was interrupted by a bird with a message attached to it. Menma removed the scroll and created some black sunflower seeds in his hand feed the bird while he read the scrolls.

It goes like this: "Menma, it's me Temari. I have Gaara with me and we have some trouble going on in the Sand Village. Baki is about to become Kazekage, and we need your help to expose him for being a accomplice to the murder of the 4th Kazekage. If he becomes the Kazekage he will hand over power to Orochimaru. Meet us near the Hidden Dust Village."-Temari.

'Huh, looks like the Sand Village is in trouble, I better help or else the Land of Wind might collapse under his rule. Should I tell someone before I go? I think I'll warn Kakashi with a clone.'-Menma.

30 Minutes Later at Kakashi's Home

Menma unlocked the door to his home and called out for Kakashi, "KAKASHI! I have to tell you about something that's come up!"-Menma.

Kakashi turned the corner and signaled him to tell him. Menma prepared himself to respond with a deep breath and continued, "I'm not Menma, I'm a clone. I've come to tell you that the real me is going to meet Temari and Gaara at the Hidden Dust Village. She needs help with preventing Baki from becoming Kazekage and giving over power to Orochimaru."-Menma.

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise from hearing this, but then he was mad. "Menma! What are you thinking? You can't go there by yourself! It could be a trap, and even if it's true what do you expect to do about it?"-Kakashi.

"Well, I know it's true because of a specific phrase on the signature that personally told her. Under her signature it reads "Miles Morales is the strongest Spider-man because he can say the N-word." Also, I think you underestimate my abilities in certain categories. The reason I don't know any jutsus besides Chidori and Rasengan even though I have the ability to learn a lot more, is because of how hard I've been training in Taijutsu. And also because of all of my stealth training."-Menma.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this. "Stealth training you say?"-Kakashi. "Yes, I've been training with Kurama to do this stealth training, I've become so good at it that I have developed the ability to steal YOUR PORN WITHOUT YOU REALIZING IT!!!"-Menma. Kakashi's eyes widened so much he accidentally activated his sharingan. "NANI?!?! Your sneaking abilities are on par with Jiraiya! Although... what do you plan to do with that knowledge?"-Kakashi. Menma put on his Jotaro voice and laughed, "Hahaha, that information is for another time Kakashi."-Menma.

Menma creaked his throat and continued, "Also I can merge my body with an object by using chakra to scramble my atoms into different elements. Although, I can only really use this ability twice. It's too Nauseating and burns through my chakra like calories."-Menma.

Kakashi's eyes widened at this. "Well damn, that is an amazing ability. But do you really think you can do this?"-Kakashi. Menma gave him a determined look, and pumped his fist in front of his face, and with pure confidence said, "Believe It! Orochimaru is an evil in this world that can't be ignored, I don't want anyone to feel anymore pain because of him! That's why... I will take this as my Responsibility to take him down! If I fail, then they can all put the blame on me."-Menma.

Kakashi couldn't argue with that, he gave him an eye smile and simply said, "Well then, show them all how strong your Will of Fire is, and take down Baki!"-Kakashi.

The clone smiled and was about to dispel stopped. "Wait, one last thing. If the worst happens, like if Temari or Gaara die, and you fail. Stay strong. Because I know better than anyone what it feels like to lose those close to you. I have lost my father, my sensei, and my best friends. But I have also learned, that one must never choose the dead over the living."-Kakashi.

Menma nodded his head and dispelled in a puff of smoke.

At the Land of Leaves Border

Menma received the memories from his clone and smiled at them. "Were only a few miles from the Hidden Dust Village, just make sure once you get there you don't get distracted by young Temari."-Kurama.

Menma stopped for a second and tripped on a tree branch, "Wha- WHY WOULD I GET DISTRACTED?!?! THIS ISN'T ABOUT THAT, I'M HERE TO TAKE DOWN BAKI!"-Menma. "Haha, I'm only joking young one."-Kurama.

Menma got off the ground and started hopping on the trees again. "Its late noon now, but... well you already know how I feel about Temari, but this is Orochimaru we're talking about. He's too dangerous to be left unchecked. I inherited the old man's Will of Fire, and I'm going to defeat Orochimaru, in my current state of power, I can't beat him. But I can stop his operations for power."-Menma.

1 Hour Later

Menma finally reached where he needed to go, and was on a hill overlooking the village where Temari and Gaara were waiting for him.

Menma called out to them and they quickly turned around. He and Temari made eye contact and ran over to each other and embraced each other. "You're more beautiful than the last time I saw you."-Menma. "And you look 30 years older than the last time I saw you."-Temari.

"Damn, I felt that."-Kurama.

"Oh, now that was unnecessary. Stress can do a lot of things."-Menma retorted in defence. She brought her hands up to his face and started rubbing his head and whiskers. "Heeey stop that, you know I'm sensitive there."-Menma complained with a pur and a fox like expression. She giggled and pulled him in for a kiss. "It's good to see you again. But... we have work to do."-Temari.

"Yes, we do. Do you want to hear more details about the mission before we leave for the Sand Village?"-Gaara. Menma nodded. "Well basically, Baki is strengthening the bond between the sound and sand village. And he has convinced the council that the Leaf village try to invade them soon. They're prepared for a war... we need to get documents of Baki and Orochimarus letters to expose him. We're gonna infiltrate the mansion at night."-Gaara. "Understood."-Menma.

They began to venture off towards the Sand village.

At The Wind Nation Border

"So, how have you 2 been doing sinse Kankuro's passing?"-Menma.

"Well, I have regrets, I should've been a better brother, but me and Temari have found a way to move on without letting go. To get over such a tragic death of someone that close to you. It really feels necessary to have a shoulder to cry on next to you. Temari was that shoulder for me."-Gaara.

"His body may no longer be with us, but he will always be in our hearts. Besides, one must remember... one should Never Choose the Dead Over The Living."-Temari.

Menma thought the words sounded familiar but shrugged it off.

The next thing that happens is gonna be like a movie scene where they say what the plan is but show it happening at the same time. So by the end of Temari's speech they will be inside his room.

10:00PM Kazekage Mansion

"All right, so Baki still trust me, he thinks I defeated you and escaped with Gaara. So I ended up hearing yesterday he arrested 3 of his ninja guards because he suspects that one of them are traitors, we already know who the traitor is because Gaara has been spying on them. So what we're gonna do is first Gaara is gonna give Menma snead to put in his pocket. And then we'll knock 2 of them out, and convince the traitor that we're gonna help him kill Baki. After that Menma will create a wood clone and we will be sent to the Kazekages study for him to talk to us personally. Once your in there release the sand in your pocket so Gaara can create a sand eye, and when the traitor goes for the kill, the wood clone will try to stop him, and the traitor will retort and kill him in bloodlust, after that Menma will take his weapon and subdue him. After that you will probably be rewarded in some way and will be sent out of the room to continue your duties. Now, the room will be left unguarded because of the small decrease of ninja after the invasion and because he needs as many guards around him as possible because of recent panic in the village. So Menma will walk in there and check his desk for documents related to the assassination of the Kazekage or conversations with Orochimaru. I'll tell you the final step of the plan after that."-Temari.

In The Kazekage Study

Menma and Gaara had a telepathic link letting them speak to each other because of the tailed beast.

'So what do you think is gonna happen to the traitor?'-Menma asked while admiring the fancy jewel Baki gave him. 'It doesn't matter now, he knew the risk when he decided to kill him. Besides, he was a fool, killing him will only bring more chaos. That's why we have to expose him.'-Gaara. 'So who's gonna become Kazekage then?'-Menma. 'I guess I will.'-Gaara.

Hearing that surprised Menma and he dropped a book onto the bottom cabinet, which hit a hidden pressure plate and the bottom of the drawer slid into the desk to reveal a hidden compartment with an agenda book and a letter in it.

Menma picked the agenda book and found a schedule in it. He scrolled through it and found some past dates from about a month and a half ago. It said things on it like "arrange caravan for Orochimaru as visiting noble". And "assassinate and dispose of Kazekage in a lion ant pit".

'Yes! This is what I need, but what's in that letter?'-Menma. Menma reached for the letter and unfolded it, sitting in a chair with a lamp over the letter.

Menma did not like what he saw.

Dear Baki,

I'm glad that you've been so cooperative in our business relationship. Disposing of the Kazekage in the Sand Moon Gulch was brilliant on your part. And I appreciate all the young ones you've been sending me. The children have quite a powerful Kekkei Genkai, Magnet Release is a fascinating thing to experiment with. But, I'm afraid our business will be over soon, you will soon be Kazekage and by next week I will have young Sasuke in my grasp after the Sound 4 convince him to seek me out for power. If you need anything else I will temporarily stationed at the Valley of the End, sense that's where I will be until Sasuke arrives. It was a pleasure like always.

Sincerely, Orochimaru

Menma was so infuriated by the message he crushed the jewel in his hands, and he didn't realize he was crushing the end of the desk. 'MENMA, Baki is coming back, hide!"-Gaara.

Menma quickly snapped out of it and put the agenda book and letter back in the drawer before closing it, and transforming into a piece of paperwork.

Baki walked in the room and walked over to the desk. "I forgot my pen. For the speech with the council tomorrow."-Baki.

Baki got his pen and was about to walk out before realizing the lamp light was still on. He walked back over to the desk and turned it off before walking out.

Menma transformed out of his transformation and huffed and puffed a few times before opening the drawer again and taking the agenda book and letter with him outside the window.

He hoped over to a nearby building. "Mission Successful. But it's worse than I thought. Not only did he kill the Kazekage, but the reason he's still associating with Orochimaru is because he's trafficking kids with Kekkei Genkais out of the village to him. Also, he plans on capturing Sasuke within a few days. So I'm gonna have leave tomorrow."-Menma.

Temari's eyes widened after hearing that, "Ok, it's unfortunate you have to leave so soon. But I understand. But the next step of the plan is to go to the Civilians and Elders council with Baki tomorrow to expose him in front of all the most powerful people in the village."-Temari. Menma nodded his head in understanding.

Late That Night

Temari was kissing Menma passionately but she couldn't help but feel his mind was somewhere else. "What's wrong with you? You're barely kissing back."-Temari.

"Well... I'm just thinking about Sasuke. Ever sinse he was little he's been training to kill Itachi after he killed his entire clan. And he doesn't show it, but he's in pain, and his ambition to kill Itachi is the most important thing to him in life right now. And after what Naruto showed he can do in a fight, Sasuke has been feeling insecure about himself sense Naruto was dead last in the academy. So I feel like he might actually fall for it. And then... I'm even more worried about my brother, he looks up to Sasuke as an obstacle he has to pass to become strong and worthy of becoming Hokage, and outside of me he thinks of Sasuke as his bestest friend, sense he's someone from a different family that can relate to him because of the loneliness that isolation gives. So if Sasuke runs away there's no doubt that Naruto would run after him, but after reading that message in the letter, the sound 4 will be there. So I don't want Naruto to get hurt trying to pursue him. That's why I need to get back to the village as soon as possible."-Menma.

That was a lot to take in, so Temari simply nodded, and decided to do something, "You know, I don't want you to be in such distress. So if you want to, you can leave now to go talk to Sasuke and me and Gaara can deal with this ourselves.

Menma's demeanor changed after hearing that, "No, no no no. I'm worried, but from the timing of the letter I'd say I got a few days, so I can wait. Besides, what we're doing here is too important to just leave."-Menma.

Temari smiled at the response and rubbed his hair and whiskers. Menma started purring in response before becoming sleepy.

In The Leaf Village

Sasuke was walking in the dead of night towards the village exit, his objective in mind:Power. A few meters away from him laid an unconscious Sakura, who still had tears on her cheeks.

Final Stage: The Council

"All right Baki, we have come to a verdict. And it has been decided that you will be"-"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"-Menma interrupted as he kicked the door open with Gaara and Temari by his side.

"And who are you?"-Elder. "Honorable elder, we've come forward to you with evidence of Baki's treachery in this Agenda book and letter we've found hidden away."-Temari.

Baki was almost seething but kept some of his composure, "So what you're saying is you broke into my office and stole some of my archived information? Arrest them."-Baki.

Guards starting walking towards him but Menma was still waiting for them to take the bait. "Wait Baki, I want to see what they have."-Elder. 'Gotcha.'-Menma.

Baki started getting nervous, "But honorable elder, they clearly broke the law, surely"-"That is enough Baki. We will see what they have."-Elder.

Temari walked over to them and pointed at the bookmarks placed in the agenda book, and gave the letter to another elder. Baki wasn't sure what to do, he was thinking of some way to escape but couldn't.

The elders eyes widened at what they read. They knew it was real because it was Bakis handwriting, and it explained times he went missing.

The elder cleared her throat before stating, "Baki, with this new revelation that has come forth you will no longer become Kazekage. You are charged with betrayal of the village, kidnapping, trafficking, assassination of a important political figure, and association with a missing Leaf ninja. Your sentence is execution, which will be held tomorrow. Guards, take him away."-Elder.

Baki was seething with anger at this, but he knew he couldn't fight them all, so all he could do was escape. So he quickly charged towards the door but was stopped by Gaara's sand wall which enclosed on him. At first some thought he would kill him, but Gaara simply squeezed him enough to force the air out of his lungs, leaving him unconscious. Gaara then handed over Baki to the guards and simply left.

Temari followed behind him and Menma said "Your welcome."-Menma. Before following behind.

As they were walking down the hall they started to talk. "So, now that that's over I'm gonna have to go to the village and protect Sasuke."-Menma.

"Alright then, it was nice seeing you again, tell Naruto I said hi. Also now since Baki is out of the picture and I showed my self control I will most likely be made Kazekage now. There will be trouble with a jinchuriki becoming a kage but if you fail to stop Sasuke from leaving the village send us a message and I'll send over ninja to help."-Gaara.

"Alright then, good luck to you."-Menma said finishing the conversation with a firm handshake. Establishing a new friendship between the Leaf and Sand. Menma kissed Temari goodbye and started his journey back to the village.

Edge Of The Sand Village

Menma rubbed some sweat off his forehead before noticing a bird flying towards him. The bird flew over to him and he found a message in it by Tsunade.

Menma's eyes widened at the letter, apparently Sasuke has been kidnapped by the Sound 4 and she has sent a team of 5 of the rookies to retrieve him. "Oh no... it's already happening. Kurama."-Menma.

"I know."-Kurama.

Menma enveloped himself with a 3 tailed cloak and started running at full speed towards the Valley of the End.

Shikamaru's Squad

"So why are there only 5 of us?"-Kiba. "There were no other ninja available."-Shikamaru. "Not even Menma? He's a real man that guy, and I heard he just got out of the hospital. I would have thought he would definitely come with us sense he usually hangs around the village all day."-Kiba. "Well apparently he left the village without telling the Hokage, the Hokage intends to punish him for that, and she's gonna punish Kakashi too for letting him leave. Apparently he went to the Sand village to help stop a corrupt man from becoming Kazekage, I'm thinking that if he succeeds then Tsunade might forgive him."-Shikamaru.

"So when do you think he'll come back?"-Neji. Shikamaru smirked, "Well it was a stealth operation. So I'm thinking he's probably on his back now. He'll be in a hurry too sense Tsunade sent a message to him about the recent event, so we'll hopefully meet him on the way."-Shikamaru.

"You're that confident in him?"-Neji. This time Naruto spoke, "You'd be surprised by how efficient he can be in a dire situation, I have no doubt he's nearly a 4th of the way here already."-Naruto.

"Alright everyone shut up, remember our plan. They're up ahead."-Shikamaru.

2 Hours Later With Menma

Menma was now back to the Land of Rivers and Leaf border. He decided to for the 2nd time in his life pray.

All he prayed for was for the safety of his friends and brother, as the world has been cruel to him his entire life, he doesn't want things to go back to the way they were after things are starting to look up.

And with that he continued on his journey, Menma hasn't killed before in his life, but that's what the ninja life prepares him for. He would do anything to protect his friends, his friends were the only thing he has in life.

Back With Shikamaru's Squad 1 Hour Later

Choji layed down against a tree. He felt drained after using the 3 pills, all he did was look up at the butterflies as he thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to be a butterfly?"-Choji.

Not far away Neji was still fighting Kidomaru, but looked to be in trouble, as Kidomaru is finding out where his blind spot is.

Further away is Shikamaru who's battle was starting to get through some trouble sense Tayuya summoned the 3 monsters of hers.

And last was Kibas fight against Sakon and Ukon, his fight is about to begin.

Menma Near Choji

Menma was still in his 3 tailed state and noticed that he was coming up to a clearing with a dead body laying in the middle of it. He jumped in front of the corpse and recognized him to be one of the Sound 4 he saw a picture of in Bakis agenda book.

Menma stood up and looked around to find Choji laying against a tree looking beaten.

Menma ran over to his friend and his hand on his jawline. "Ok, your still alive."-Menma sighed in relief. Choji is knocked out, he's almost in a near death state.

Menma put a hand on Choji's head and channeled the Kyuubi's chakra into him passively through his Chakra points. "This won't heal you completely but you'll be able to walk big guy."-Menma.

Menma stood up and continued running towards where he sensed chakra.

After seeing Choji in that state he started thinking about what's been going on with himself. 'I guess I would be considered a funny guy with layers, pull back those layers and I'm a bit of a sensitive caring guy. But one thing that will never change is my love for my friends. And I'll be damned if I let someone take that away.'-Menma thought with a clenched fist.

Menma was now getting close to the fight and found Neji fighting Kidomaru. Neji looked exhausted.

Menma jumped down next to Neji and his face lit up. "Shikamaru and Naruto were right, you did come."-Neji. Menma simply smiled at him and asked, "Of course I came, but I don't want to linger around too long, so what do you know about this guy?"-Menma.

While they were talking, they didn't notice Kidomaru transform and position himself behind them.

"Well, whenever he's not very good at Taijutsu, and when he spits and shoots webs at you he has a line of chakra in them that can be cut if you can concentrate your chakra into your palm good enough for it to be like a knife."-Neji.

Before Menma could respond though Kidomaru shoot an arrow at Neji's neck. Menma noticed and pushed him out of the way before realizing that the arrow redirected itself to hit Neji again. Menma had no time to think, so he jumped in front of it to take the blow. He thought his chakra cloak would lessen the blow but it cut right through it and pierced him onto a tree. "MENMAAAA!!"-Neji yelled.

"I'm ok. It didn't hit anything that serious."-Menma confirmed with some blood in his mouth. The arrow went right through his liver.

Because the arrow went right through him he cut the line with chakra before coming up with an idea, 'Wait... if these lines are connected with chakra that means I can channel chakra through the line. He looked over to Neji and Neji came to the same conclusion.

Menma's liver healed within a few seconds and he readied up next to Neji before 2 arrows were shot at them.

Menma and Neji started running away from their arrows and made it go through a few trees, but these arrows were stronger than the other one was. They both ran through a couple more trees before Neji realized this wasn't going to work, so he stopped running.

'Giving up eh?'-Kidomaru. The arrow went straight through him and pinned him to the ground before Neji put his hands on the rope and started channeling chakra into it.

Menma was distracted by Neji getting stabbed and didn't notice the arrow coming straight for his heart. Kurama created a huge chakra arm to block the arrow and destroying it before telling Menma, "Menma! Don't be so easily distracted."-Kurama. Menma snapped back to reality and apologized, "Right, sorry."-Menma.

After Neji channeled his chakra into the rope he told Menma, "QUICKLY! I damaged a lot of his internal organs, before he can attack again finish him off!"-Neji.

Menma listened and charged at Kidomaru at full speed. Menma really wanted to finish this so he transformed into a 4 tails cloak and put his fist behind himself.

Kidomaru cursed himself for being stupid and decided to give it one last try, so he yelled, "MAXIMUM DESTRUCTIVE POWER, ACCURACY 200%!"-Kidomaru.

Menma lifted his other hand and grabbed the arrow in mid air crushing it, before continuing his rush.

Kidomaru had no hope anymore, accepted defeat with a simple, "Damn."-Kidomaru.

Menma made connect with his punch, the punch caused a shockwave that made all the trees within a mile radius shake. Kidomaru died on impact and his body flew through multiple trees.

Shikamaru and Tayuya stopped there fight for a second to look in that direction before continuing.

Menma ran back over to Neji to check on him. "Did we win?"-Neji asked weakly. "Yeah, we beat him."-Menma.

"I feel dizzy, Menma"-"Shhhh shhhhh. Sleep now, save your strength. I'll take your place In this mission."-Menma stated calmly while channeling Kyuubi chakra into him to heal him before Neji's eyes closed slowly before drifting off to sleep.

Menma stood back up and felt disappointed in himself. "Look what they did to poor Neji."-Menma. Menma walked into that battle foolishly, he had the element of surprise he could of used to kill Kidomaru at the start. But now Neji is in critical condition.

Menma's Will of Fire started to turn ablaze, and he vowed not to let another friend be hurt this badly on this mission.

Menma feeling slightly enraged by his stupidity started to grow a 5th tail and his appearance started to slightly change in appearance. Parts of his body started having small glows on them of red and blur showing that there were traces of a nervous system and organs in his body now. And he let out a loud roar that could be heard for miles.

Everyone that was fighting at that moment stopped and looked into the distance of where the roar came from to see a dark beam in the sky. "What the hell is that?!?"-Tayuya. Shikamaru smirked at her, "That is the sign of your defeat."-Shikamaru.

Tayuya glared at him and activated her 2nd stage of the curse mark. "Your really starting to post me off, I'm gonna finish this N"- Tayuya was cut off by a dark chakra hand that grabbed her face and violently threw her towards the ground creating a medium sized crater.

Tayuya just laid there in shock and before she could do anything else Menma used the trees around him to bend them upside down and impale her, but she was able to use the flute to make the 3 monsters protect her. Menma glanced back at her and charged up a small tailed beast bomb and shot it at her which instantly obliterated her and created a bigger crater.

Shikamaru awed at his power, "Damn, I haven't seen you go past 3 tails."-Shikamaru. "Yeah, that's because it's starts to hurt like hell going past 3, and it's hard to control myself. I'm glad I was able to get here in time, but I need to go after Kiba now. Where is he?"-Menma.

"He fell down that hole with Sakon. And don't worry about me, I only have minor injuries."-Shikamaru.

Menma nodded at him before calming down. He realized that the cloak was starting to put a strain on his body so disabled the cloak and simply kept the red eyes, sharp nails/teeth, and the broader whiskers. Menma dived down the hole and used hard thick wood to create a shell around himself protecting him from the fall and making himself fall faster.

He landed in front of Kiba and Ukon and climbed out. Kiba's face lit up a bit seeing him, but he quickly gagged again on some blood.

Menma lost his smile after that and looked next to him to see what he guessed was Ukon. Menma wasted no time on pointless words and shunshined next to Ukon picked him up before slamming hi. Back into the ground with kyuubi enforced strength. The force destroyed his vocal cords and left him dazed.

Menma picked him up again and lifted him up over his head before slamming him down on his knee. Breaking Ukons back and paralyzing him. Ukon just laid there in pain making pathetic sounds. "You people disgust me, kidnapping children and experimenting on them."-Menma. He looked over to Kiba, "Wait here for a minute, make sure you put pressure on that wound."-Menma.

Menma dragged Ukon away near the river and saw Sakon cleaning his eyes.

"Kurama, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"-Menma. "I hear all your thoughts, so of course."-Kurama.

Kurama channeled more chakra into Naruto, to the point where it created an intimidating enough aura to petrify a anbu.

He walked up to Sakon and poked him on the shoulder, Sakon turned around and Menma grabbed him by the throat.

From a distance it looked like a simple choking but in Sakons eyes he saw death himself, someone who could decide whether he lives or dies at any moment. He couldn't resist, the gravity felt great. He simply stared into the eyes of Menma and saw the 9 tails fox in all of its glory. He fell unconscious from the stress.

Menma was going to finish them off quickly but then his eyes became bn lack with red irises, and he thought differently.

20 Minutes Later

Both Sakon and Ukon woke up, Menma healed Ukon and replaced his broken bones with wood. "What the hell happened?"-Sakon.

"So, you're finally awake."-Menma.

"What the h"-"Before you do anything, just know that if you try to attack me, or merge to each other the chakra I've put in your brains will activate and you will die painfully. So, I don't want to waste time sense I have a friend to get back to, so I'll make it simple. You 2 are going to fight, to the death. The one that wins will be let go."-Menma.

"So you just expect me to kill my brother?"-Ukon. "You 2 are brothers, and I can empathize with that, but you have chosen to live a horrible life, and kill who you please. So, as the friar once said, these violent delights have violent ends."-Menma.

They couldn't argue against that, so they started circling each other, "Nothing personal."-Sakon. "Your annoying anyway."-Ukon. Then they charged at each other. Menma already knew Sakon was going to win sense he gave Ukon temporary wooden bones.

It didn't take long for Sakon to overpower Ukon and throw him to the ground. 'I guess that's why villains usually fight alone. They're all quick to betray an ally, and they know that, even if it's a brother.'-Menma thought in disappointment. But Menma's sadistic smile appeared as the fight went on.

Sakon was beating on Ukon and was starting to make him bleed. Ukon was paralyzed again sense his wooden bones collapsed.

Sakon lifted him slightly lifted him slightly off the ground and broke his neck, killing him.

Sakon stood up with heavy breaths and stated, "I win, now let me leave."-Sakon. "Not even a bit of grief? You just killed your brother. Ya know?"-Menma thought giggling to himself.

"It was all just business. Besides"- Sakon was cut off by his own head exploding into a fountain of blood.

Menma stood up from his chair and started walking towards Kiba. "You got some enjoyment out of that, that was quite sadistic of you."-Kurama. "Don't act like you didn't enjoy it as well... besides, it was a test to see how much the worst of villains care about family. I wasn't very surprised, besides... I would of had to kill them whether they passed or not. They're too dangerous to be allowed to walk free."-Menma.

Menma's eyes turned back to normal and he was confused for a second, he ignored his confusion and he scolded Kiba for stabbing himself. But commended him for his wit at the same time before healing him and asking where Naruto is.

"I don't know, Shikamaru was the last one to see him, you'd have to ask him."-Kiba. Menma nodded and walked off to go back to where he landed and created a catapult out of wood and launched himself back to the top of the hole to ask Shikamaru where Naruto is.

I was considering killing some of the ninja on the Sasuke mission, but decided that I don't want things to be too sad and dark. Yet.

So, I will see you all again in chapter 5 where we will finally reach the Valley of the End and find out the situation.

Also the plan that Temari came up with was inspired by the Netflix movie Apostle.


	5. Origins Part 5

Menma walked towards Shikamaru who was leaning against a tree to ask him an important question. "Shikamaru, you were with Naruto last so where is he?"-Menma.

Shikamaru looked up at Menma replied, "Well we came up with a tactic to trick the enemy and get Sasuke in our hands. But the plan was ruined when someone else arrived and took Sasuke, I stayed here to fight Tayuya while Naruto ran ahead to chase after the guy. I think his name was Kimimaro."-Shikamaru.

Menma nodded and was about to run in the direction they went but collapsed. "Menma?!?"-Shikamaru.

Menma gave him a thumbs up to say he was okay and said, "I'm alright, it's just that using these different tailed forms puts a strain on my body. I'll just have to fight this guy without Kurama's help. See ya Shikamaru, stay well."-Menma.

Menma's eyes, nails/teeth, and whiskers returned to normal and he ran off towards where they went.

While jumping through the forest Menma started to think, 'So, I was able to keep my promise, I protected all of my friends. But now I must complete an even greater challenge, I must protect my brother. If my brother died... I don't know what I'd do. That's why I won't let him die, this isn't just about me. This is about all of my friends, Tsunade, Kakashi, they're all counting on me. Naruto's gonna become Hokage, that's a dream I intend to help him fulfill.'-Menma.

Menma started to clench his fist. 'Naruto may be my younger brother, but I look up to him. I want to be more like Naruto, he's such a kind hearted and forgiving person who inspires everyone around him, like during the first stage of the chunin exams. If Naruto dies the world will become a dark place, I don't know how... but I just have a feeling when I'm around him that the world could end if he died.'-Menma.

Menma felt a burning sensation in his chest, his Will of Fire was flaring. He clenched his fist so hard that his hands bled, and he manipulated the trees around him to bend them into a Y position with branches in between the trees being stretched and softened like a rubber band. He stepped back to bend the bark and released the tension on the trees causing him to be launched forward straight through the trees into the clearing.

The Final Valley

Naruto laid on the ground unconscious surrounded by rain and mud as Sasuke looked down at him. Sasuke thought back to what Itachi said. If you want to kill me, you'll need the same eyes as me. And to achieve these eyes you must kill your best friend."-Itachi.

Sasuke thought about what he said in disgust and said, "I'll never stop down to his level." Before leaving Naruto where he was.

Back To Menma

Once away from the trees he saw Lee and who he guessed was Kimimaro, who was in the 1st stage of the curse mark.

He landed next to Lee and asked, "Lee, what are you doing here? You should still be recovering."-Menma.

"I didn't want to feel useless, I may still be injured but I can still fight!"-Lee. Menma smiled at that and responded, "That's admirable of you Lee, but let me handle things from here."-Menma.

"You should know before you fight him, he has a Kekki Genkai that lets him weaponize his bones, their also as hard as steel. I wasn't able to even crack them with a kick."-Lee. "Hmmm, that sounds troublesome. But thanks for the info. But just so you know all bones are stronger than steel, but bones are all weak against fast moving objects."-Menma.

Menma charged at Kidomaru who readied himself. Menma jumped up and covered himself in wooden armor and made 5 clones who axed kicked down on him. Kimimaro guarded and extended his bones stabbing the 5 clones and Menma, but Menma caught the bone and punched it, but instead of breaking the bone his wooden armor cracked.

Kimimaro backed up and punched Menma who put up his guard. Kimimaro punched right through it and stabbed his arms making him fly backwards.

Kimimaro coughed up some blood, "Are you sick or something?"-Menma. "Yes, my sickness cannot be healed. And my body is moving solely off of will power, but Orochimaru's dream is to receive a new body. I am no longer capable of being that vessel but I will help him achieve his dream by bringing him Sasuke."-Kimimaro.

Menma was surprised by that. "Well, I guess I was wrong about all villains being heartless. I respect you for your dedication, but I have a duty to stop you. Because I too have someone I admire. And that person I admire is probably bringing Sasuke back right now."-Menma.

"I guess you're talking about that clone beat Naruto, he seemed angered when I faced him. But he's not bringing him back, you probably don't know this but Sasuke left on his own accord. He wants power and he believed Orochimaru will give it to him."-Kimimaro.

Menma's eyes widened at this, "Wha-wha-what? Sasuke left to go with you guys??!?! I don't believe you, Sasuke has a powerful ambition but he would never betray his village!"-Menma.

Kimimaro lowered his head and activated the second stage of his curse mark, "I guess that's something you'll have to find out yourself. But this body will not last much longer, so let's finish this now."-Kimimaro.

Menma readied himself and replied, "Yes, lets."-Menma.

Menma used the terrain to his advantage and rose wood from the earth creating a wall around him and clapped his hands making the walls close in and crush Kimimaro. But Kimimaro broke through it and started shooting his fingertips at Menma. Menma jumped out the way of most of them and created another wood wall to protect himself, but the fingertips broke through the wood and stabbed into Menma.

Menma realized that the wood was too weak and decided to start using Schinopsis Brasiliensis wood. Menma rose multiple trees from the ground started throwing them at Kimimaro, who started to dodge them.

Kimimaro was being assaulted to fast for him to find an opening. While he was jumping back Menma rose a tree from the ground behind him causing him to fall into it. "Gotcha."-Menma.

Menma wrapped the tree around him and started slamming him into the same spot in the ground to create a 12 feet deep crater multiple times before throwing high into the air. While he was in the air Menma used the tree roots to spread out the hole creating a 100ft deep hole.

As Kimomaru was falling from the sky he created a spiral shaped spear on his arm, "This is my final attack, so please die."-Kimimaro.

Menma prepared a Chidori in his left hand, and a rasengan in his right hand, and closed his hands into each other creating an unstable black ball with white lightning coming off of it. "Chidorsengan!"-Menma.

Menma held up the unstable core up to Kimimaro and jumped up towards him creating a clash.

The clash created powerful wind gust making Lee grip on the ground. Kimimaro started to put a small crack in his Chidorsengan. Menma noticed this and started to think about could happen if he loses here. Menma has dedicated most of his life so far to making sure Naruto is happy, all he wants is for him to fulfill his dream. But if he dies here he won't be able to care for Naruto, and not only that... but he won't be able to keep Kakashi company, and he won't be able to spend time with Temari.

So knowing how much he has on his shoulders he felt a hand on his shoulder. Menma looked up at it and saw Old Man Hiruzen. Menma gave him a smirk and turned back towards Kimimaro. And with a powerful roar his Chidorsengan turned into a burning red ornate black ball of stable energy with lightning revolving around it.

Kimimaro's bone weapon started to crack and Menma roared,

"LEAF STYLE: CHIDORSENGAN!"-Menma.

Kimimaro became enveloped in the energy and all of his bones were shattered, letting him fall into the pit Menma created.

Kimimaro transformed back into his normal form and looked up to see Menma.

"4000 pounds of force is what it takes to break a femur bone. This chakra enhanced Australian Buloke wood is over 2 times as much force as that. Your extremely persistent but even you can't move if all your bones are broken. I respect your dedication to completing your goal to make someone happy, but I also have people I care for that I need to make happy, so this is the end. Goodbye."-Menma stated before covering the ground with the wood, burying Kimimaro.

Menma walked over to Lee and asked, "Are you alright?"-Menma. Lee came back to his senses after such a display of power, "Yes-yes, I'm fine."-Lee.

"Good good, so where's Naruto?"-Menma. Lee lowered his head at that, "He ran off after Sasuke. Sasuke finally woke up but when he did he revealed he left on his own accord and ran off."-Lee.

Menma frowned at that, "So... it's true then, he did leave by choice."-Menma despaired.

But he quickly regained a hopeful look, "But that just means we'll have to slap some sense into him! We'll drag him back to the village if we have to!"-Menma. To Menma that sounded like something Naruto would say.

Lee smiled at that, "They ran that way."-Lee replied pointed in the direction they left.

Menma nodded towards him and started running off, "And one last thing!"-Lee. Menma stopped and looked back at him.

Lee faced towards him with an emotional and brave face, "Make sure you knock some sense into that fool Sasuke!"-Lee stated with a clenched fist in front of his own face. Menma nodded and continued on.

Menma started jumping through the trees again. "We should hurry, there's remnants of Kyuubi chakra in the air not far from here."-Kurama.

Menma nodded and tried to activate his 3 tailed state but collapsed. "It Seems that my chakra is putting a big strain on your body, you should stop."-Kurama. Menma shook his head no. "No, it's ok, I might be knocked out for a week but I need to save Naruto and Sasuke."-Menma. Menma forced himself to stand and against his bodies wishes he forced on a 1 tailed cloak and started charging forward with will power.

Sand Village

Gaara leaned against a tree and was thinking heavily. 'Orochimaru is too powerful for the current Menma, and Menma said he would meet 4 other powerful people on the way towards him. This isn't safe... I may soon be Kazekage, but my duty as a friend comes first.'-Gaara.

Gaara stood back up and called to Temari, "Temari! Come now, we're going to the Valley of the End, Menma can't do this by himself."-Gaara.

Temari nodded happily in agreement and they set off towards the Valley of the End.

Final Valley

Naruto's eyes opened and he looked around. He stood up and started limping towards a road. He almost made it to the road when he felt a foot collide with his face.

Naruto went flying into a wall and fell back onto the ground. He tried to form a rasengan put the man stomped his leg on his arm. The rasengan dissipated and Naruto looked up at the man to see that it was Orochimaru.

Orochimaru looked down at him and told him, "You've done enough. If I let you live you'll only ruin my plans. You would have been such a nice toy to experiment with but this is goodbye."-Orochimaru.

Naruto had a fearful look in his eyes as he saw Orochimaru pull out the kusanagi blade from his mouth. He took the blade in his hands and slammed it into Naruto.

Naruto desperately grabbed the blade and tried to resist Orochimaru's strength. "So you still have some fight in you huh?"-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru put more force behind his blade and it was slowly piercing Naruto's skin. "No, I can't die here! I have to become Hokage!"-Naruto.

Menma, 500m From Valley of the End

Menma was close enough now to see the statues. "Alright! I'm here now Naruto! I don't hear any battling so hopefully- Menma stopped dead at the edge at the side of the valley.

Menma dropped his cloak and teleported next to Naruto, he was surrounded by a puddle of 1.5 gallons of blood that lay around him.

Menma touched his shoulder and started shaking him. No response. "Hey, hey Naruto. It's ok I'm here now. Na-Naruto, c-come on now. Stop j-joking. Naruto, NARUTO, NARUTOOOO!"-Menma screamed.

Menma had just thought he might of had a concussion or something, and with the little hope in his heart he felt him for a pulse... there was none.

Naruto's body slipped out of Menma's arms back onto the ground revealing a huge black hole in his stomach. For Menma everything went blank, all of the trees and the sky turned gray. There was nothing he could do but sit there and cry. All of his senses besides sight such off. All he could think of was how he failed to save the most important person in his life.

Menma started thinking about all of the bad times, like everytime they were adopted, they starved and were beaten. But they never lost hope because they had each other to cry with.

And then he thought of the good times, like when they first met Kakashi and he saved them from the villagers. And when Kakashi took them out to Ichirakus for their first bowl of Ramen. He stood there in that restaurant with his brother playing with their food, and arguing, and having a contest to see who could eat the most. But now, he couldn't do that anymore. His brother was gone, and Menma didn't know what to do. Naruto was someone he looked up to, someone he wanted to be like, someone that he wanted to help fulfill their dream. But he's dead now, and Menma feels lost. It started to rain heavily, as if the sky shared his sorrows.

While he was thinking about everything he's done with his brother and for his brother he didn't notice a man walk up to him with a shovel who was laughing. It was Orochimaru. Orochimaru knocked Menma over the head with a shovel and put the 5 pronged seal back on him before picking him up and carrying him away towards his base.

Nighttime At Orochimaru's Hideout

Menma woke up and found himself locked down to a titanium chair that was covered in chakra suppressing seals to prevent him from using even the smallest wood style jutsu.

Menma oriented himself before remembering what happened. Then he quickly felt sad again, not as sad as when he saw his dead body, but still deeply saddened.

"Young Menma, your brother may be dead, and I'm sorry for that. But don't let his life be in vain, YOU can fulfill his dream of becoming Hokage, you've inherited his will now. I have no doubt that he would want you to be Hokage if he passed."-Kurama. Menma felt a little better but still depressed. "Besides, remember you still people who care for you. Young Temari loves you, and Kakashi Tsunade and the other genin care about you. And don't forget most importantly I'm here too. I'm your... best friend."-Kurama.

Menma felt very surprised to hear that, he almost cracked a small grin. And weakly spoke, "Wow Kurama, those are 2 words I never thought I would hear you say."-Menma. Kurama chuckled a bit at that, "Well, I'm stuck to you for life. So it's not hard to do that."-Kurama.

Menma was still sad, but Kurama was right about all he said. And most importantly he still had him, he was his best friend and like a personal therapist.

Then Orochimaru and Kabuto walked into the room. Kabuto went over to the table but Orochimaru walked straight towards him. Menma tried to muster as great a glare as he could as he looked up at him. Orochimaru gloated, "Awww why the sad face?"-Orochimaru.

Menma spit at him. Orochimaru wiped it off and pulled out a baton. "It seems, you have to be TAUGHT!*SLAP, A LESSON! *SLAP, IN RESPECT!*SMASH"-Orochimaru. Menma felt blood dripping from his forehead.

Menma realized he wasn't healing as fast. "Ahhh, you noticed. I put a stronger seal on there this time."-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru lifted his head and looked him straight in his eyes. "You know you've cost me my Sound 5. You're going to pay for that with torture, but for now... GIVE ME THE GOLDEN EYES!"-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru reached his hand towards Menmas eyes. "Ah, what THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?! STOOOOOP!!!"-Menma. Before he could touch his eyes they turned into a robotic looking eyeball with a gold iris in the middle. Orochimaru grinned finally seeing them in person but before he could touch them they blasted him back with a gust of force. The stress made Menma become unconscious.

"Lord Orochimaru! Are you okay?"-Kabuto.

Orochimaru waved his hand away, "Yes yes I'm fine!*sigh, it seems I'm gonna have to weaken him before I can get those eyes. We have 2 weeks here so I'll have some fun with him for now."-Orochimaru stated before leaving the room.

Leaf Village Gate

The squad of 5 that was now a squad of 4 along with Lee reunited and were now at the village gate. They all looked tired and beaten but they were still able to walk.

"Do think Menma will be able to bring both Naruto and Sasuke back?"-Choji. All the other 4 nodded and said something along the lines of

"Of course".

They all stopped after they saw Kakashi jump in front of them with a worried face. "Where's Naruto and Menma?!"-Kakashi.

Lee answered, "He went ahead of me to go help Naruto talk to or fight Sasuke, apparently he left on his own accord. He last told me he was heading for the Valley of the End."-Lee.

Kakashi nodded, he couldn't wait for Tsunade to let him leave, he had a job as a father to fulfill. "Go tell Tsunade what happened and to send out search parties of Anbu, then all of you get some rest. And one last thing, tell her that if they see any Sand ninja don't attack them."-Kakashi.

They nodded and Kakashi jumped past them and started running at full speed to go find Naruto and Menma. Kakashi was praying that Menma brought Temari or Gaara with him, but he's someone who doesn't like to bother people for something he thinks he can do so it's not likely.

Near the Valley of the End

Gaara stood up from examining the battle field, "Yeah, Menma definitely fought someone here, and judging by all the craters it was a hard fight."-Gaara.

They kept on running, 'Menma, if you were struggling against someone here how do you expect to beat Orochimaru?'-Gaara thought worryingly.

"There's a lot of remnant Kyuubi chakra near this area."-Shukaku.

Hearing that Gaara ran in the direction he sensed it and ran through the clearing to land down in the Valley. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Gaara felt his eyes start to tear up at the sight in front of him. There laid Naruto in a pool of his own blood with a hole in his stomach. Temari gasped and put her hands on her mouth with some tears of her own.

Gaara almost collapsed, there laid one of his 2 friends on the ground, brutalized. Gaara felt a little bit of his old self seep for a moment, but quickly calmed himself and kept on crying. "I need to find Menma now... whoever did this will pay."-Gaara.

Gaara looked over to Temari, "Temari, clean off all of his blood in the river and take him back to the Leaf Village."-Gaara.

"But Gaara"-"Do it! I don't want you getting hurt, Please."-Gaara. Temari hesitated but listened. She cleaned Naruto's body in the river and Temari held him bridal style before running towards the Leaf.

Gaara made a short pray and parted by saying, "Saying your soul rest in peace, friend."-Gaara. Garra wiped away his tears and started search for clues to where Menma went.

Gaara doesn't want Temari getting involved with this, he just lost one of his 2 only friends, he doesn't want to lose her, or his other friend.

1 Hour Later With Kakashi And Temari

Kakashi was still running towards where the Valley of the End was in Hopes of making it there in time to stop anything bad from happening.

Kakashi continued running but noticed a couple of blonde heads in his Peripheral vision. He stopped himself and looked over to them instantly recognizing them. He quickly jumped down in front of Temari who had her hair covering her eyes, her cheeks still had fresh tears on them. She didn't really talk to Naruto but she spoke to him before and knew his past with Menma so she felt bad.

"Temari, what are you doing here and is that Naruto?"-Kakashi. Temari responded by saying, "H-he died...by Orochimaru's hand."-Temari revealed letting Kakashi see him fully now.

Kakashi's eyes widened bigger than they ever have before, and he felt like a piece of himself just died. Kakashi reached out his hands and Temari handed him to him. Kakashi held him in his arms and collapsed onto his knees with tears in his eyes.

"Look how they massacred my boy."-Kakashi spoke with great sadness in his voice. Temari responded, "Gaara is out there searching for Menma right now."-Temari. Kakashi stood up slowly and said, "Please, follow me."-Kakashi.

Temari started following him as he walked back to the village, he wasn't in a rush, the Anbu or Gaara would find Menma. But now he had to make sure Naruto gets put in a proper burial before he went to go find Menma himself.

Hokage's Office Midnight

All of the Rookie 13 minus Naruto and Menma were restless in the Hokage's office.

"When are we gonna be sent out again?!?"-Neji. "Menma's in danger out there!"-Shikamaru. "We aren't busy anymore! We can go after Menma!"-Ino.

Tsunade started to get annoyed sense she should be sleeping but before she could say anything they were all interrupted by the door opening and a white haired man with his hair covering his eyes entered the room with Naruto in his hands, followed by Temari.

When Kakashi walked into the room everyone was so quiet you could hear a fly sneeze. Kakashi stopped walking when he was all the way inside the room of lifted his head slowly to reveal a crying saddened man. Everyone in the room let out a gasp of surprise by this, none of them had seen Kakashi exhibit any emotions past an eye smile. Tsunade recognized the look in his eyes though and already knew what happened.l as she began to lower her head with light sobs.

They were all slightly confused at first but Shikamaru and Neji caught on and clenched their fists. "Lady Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki... is dead.

The Next Morning

After all the rookies received the news the village was quiet. Tsunade and Kakashi were preparing for the funeral, they already had the casket, all they need now is to prepare the body to look nice.

Kakashi and Tsunade stood in front of the door leading to the best cosmetologist in the village. Kakashi took a deep breath expecting the worst.

They opened the door to the office and Tsunade spoke first, "We'd like you to perform a cosmetology on a body for a funeral. The man kept looking down and asked, "What's their name?"

Tsunade was trying to keep her cool expecting the worst, "Naruto Uzumaki."

The man stopped what he was doing and asked to confirm, "Naruto? As in the blond one?" The man asked.

Kakashi was thinking he already knew what was gonna happen but tried to keep his cool. The man smiled for a second, then he started laughing.

"Well then, Halle fucking lujah! HAHAHAH"- the man was cut off by him being slammed against the wall. It's hard to make Kakashi mad but someone laughing at his son's death was something he wouldn't let happen.

Tsunade didn't do anything, as she was about to do the same thing. Kakashi threw the man away from the wall and picked him back up hanging him out of a window, he looked the man dead in the eye and told him, "Listen here and listen closely you little shit. You don't know ANYTHING about these people and what they've been through, people have tried to tell you but you're all just to ignorant to understand, so maybe you'll understand this. If you don't perform a cosmetology on his body I will personally hunt you down and kill YOU, and your entire family, and destroy your business. Are we CLEAR?"-Kakashi. The man nodded and Kakashi threw him behind him back into the room. He started to leave but said one last thing, "Oh, and also... when we get his body back if I see even a speck of dust on his body your losing an arm."-Kakashi.

Tsunade dropped off the body and told him to have it ready by tonight.

Orochimaru's Lair

Menma woke up to the sound of equipment rattling around and looked in that direction to see Kabuto.

"Kabuto, so you were a spy."-Menma. Kabuto said "hn" in response. "So, what is Orochimaru talking about when he says golden eye?"-Menma.

Kabuto stopped what he was doing for a second, and then he thought it wouldn't hurt for him to know. It's not like he's leaving this place alive anyway.

Kabuto looked in his direction and said, "Orochimaru wants to do 2 things, learn every jutsu in the world, and become immortal. Orochimaru was visited by man once, who told him that there is a child with eyes that exceed the Sharingan. That apparently these eyes are a kind of portal to another realm full of people and opportunities to make him immortal. I don't remember the name of the place though, I think it was called... As-something."-Kabuto.

Menma took in all that information, then he laughed a bit, "Haha, that sounds insane."-Menma.

Kabuto hesitated for a second but spoke, "I must admit, it does sound quite outlandish."-Kabuto.

Kabuto stood up and left the room, "Where are you going?"-Menma. Kabuto looked back and said, "Orochimaru will see you now, I have to go talk to Sasuke. Orochimaru intends to torture you and weaken you until he can take your eyes."-Kabuto responded before walking out the door.

Menma gulped when he saw Orochimaru enter the room. "Alright Menma, I intend on keeping you here till the end of the week, we're on day 2 now so we should get started."-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru walked over to the table with equipment on it and picked up a pair of pliers and a circular saw.

Menma wasn't very fond of the view as Orochimaru started walking towards him so he started moving around in his chair to try and break free. "It's no use Menma, that chair is made out of titanium, you won't be going anywhere any time soon.

"He-hey, stay BACK! YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THIS IF YOU DON'T STOP! NO NO NO, PLEEEEEASE! STOOOOOOOP!!!"-Menma screamed as Orochimaru started crushing his fingers with pliers and pulling out his nails.

Nighttime-Menma

Menma was heaving his breath, he still felt sore all over from the pain. His fingers have grown all the way back now. 'Orochimaru is truly a sadistic bastard, after he crushed my fingers and pulled out the nails he cut them off with the saw. Then after that he put his hands in a metal compressor and flattened my hands. I thought that would be the end but then he placed nail boards under the chair and started electrocuting me, causing me to jolt back and forth sparratically. Which made me slam my feet on the nails multiple times. Then after that, he said he would do the same and even more tomorrow...'-Menma.

Nighttime-Kakashi

Kakashi stood in front of the shrine with the names of dead ninja from the war on it. Naruto's funeral was going to start soon. "Obito, Rin. Times are hard right now... I thought I've become immune to this kind of sadness but this is the worst so far. Please... watch over me, and give me the strength I need."-Kakashi.

Kakashi turned around and started walking towards the Villages graveyard to meet everyone for the funeral

5 Minutes Later

Kakashi walked through the graveyard gate, this was the first time in awhile he wasn't late for something. Some people turned around to look at him.

The people that arrived for the funeral was Tsunade, Iruka, the rookie 11, all of their parents, Konohamaru and his friends, a sand clone of Gaara, Temari, Teuchi and Ayame, and now Kakashi.

They all knew that this was the hardest for Kakashi, Naruto was practically his son. This was a private funeral, no villagers or other ninja were allowed to come.

The man standing in front of everyone else gave a eulogy of Naruto, none of them really knew but some villagers hosted parties sense news of his death spread.

The man giving the eulogy finished by saying, "But in the end he was unfortunately slain by the vile villain known as Orochimaru. The memory of Naruto will never be forgotten, and he will continue to live on in our hearts." The man finished by closing his book and Naruto's casket was lowered into the grave.

Everyone had their own personal reaction to his death. Some sobbed like Hinata, some had tears like Konohamaru, some were angry like Neji, and others were just saddened by how another poor child life was lost on a rescue mission.

Once he was buried people started to leave like Tsunade was gonna drink herself to sleep in her sorrows. Gaara's clone dispersed. And Konohamaru and the adults left. Hinata left with her dad and so did Sakura. Iruka left to go to Ichiraku to reminisce. And Kakashi stayed there in the rain.

Kakashi wiped away his tears and pulled down his mask and got on his knees. He felt like he was suffocating. "Naruto... your sacrifice for your friends and loved ones will not be in vain."-Kakashi. Kakashi put his mask back on and proceeded to the graveyard gate to go start searching for Menma.

When he reached the entrance he saw that Temari, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, and Shino stood there.

"What are you all still doing here?"-Kakashi. Shikamaru answered, "Naruto was close to all of us, he was our friend."-Shikamaru. "We know you're going to go search for Menma."-Shino. "Take us with you, we can't bear losing Menma too!"-Ino.

Kakashi stood tall looking down upon all of them, "Do you kids know what you're getting into? Orochimaru is a powerful man."-Kakashi. "OF COURSE we know. But we were there, we know we can handle ourselves."-Kiba. Temari firmly spoke, "Kakashi, Naruto is gone now but Menma is also close to us, whether you take us with you or not we're going to go find Menma."-Temari. Kakashi looked at all of them, "Do you all agree with her?"-Kakashi.

They all nodded with a resounding "HAI!" Kakashi smiled under his mask, "Well then, in that case... let's go now! Everyone, follow me!"-Kakashi.

Kakashi found a new strength in himself and started running into the forest followed behind by 8 of the previous 13 rookies and Temari to go search for Menma.

Sasuke was no longer someone they were worrying about, because of his choice to leave Naruto died, so their only concern is Menma.

Day 3-Orochimaru's Lair

Menma woke up to find himself in a dirty room covered with blood at his feet. He already knew where he was. 'Ok, ok. I can't lose hope, Kakashi or someone else will find me.'-Menma.

A man with long hair walked into the room and Menma lost a little of that hope. "You're not supposed to be awake yet, today's the day things are gonna get really painful for you. Menma couldn't do anything about his current situation even if he tried his best. The man walked over to him and injected him with a needle, the needle pierced his skin and Menma jolted a bit and started having flashbacks.

Ok, that was the last origins chapter, pretty soon Menma will be on his path of Vengeance, so stay tuned for the next chapter.


	6. Broken Soul

Menma was still shaking for a few more seconds after the needle was injected. "The serum I just gave you is a kind of pain serum, what it will do is make all of your nerves 500% more sensitive to pain. Now don't worry that this will last long, it's only day 3 out of 7, Haha Haha. "-Orochimaru.

Menma knew there was no point in saying anything, but he still felt tremendous fear of the torture that he was going to put on him.

"Menma, my chakra will only last for a few more days. The seal he put on us this time is preventing me from regaining chakra."-Kurama. That information made Menma feel despaired. But Menma didn't respond, he was just hoping for someone to come save him.

Orochimaru picked up an electric screwdriver and walked over to him. He took the screwdriver and started drilling into his stomach. The twirling metal started shredding his intestines and Orochimaru ripped out his small intestine and dropped the slippery thing on the ground.

Menma had blood pouring out of his stomach now, but then Orochimaru brought out the familiar circular saw and pliers and proceeded to destroy his hands again, all the while having nails stabbing Menma's feet. After all of that Menma was gasping, he felt like he could die any second. "Please... please please please stoooop."-Menma.

Orochimaru backed off and went over to the equipment table to pick up a glass jar. He walked back over to Menma and pulled out 2 insects. The first was a roach, and the second was a leech.

This roach is the number 1 pest in the Hidden Stone village, it's mainly known for its constant hunger of chakra. Orochimaru walked towards him, Menma turned his head to face away from him but Orochimaru grabbed his face and stuck the cockroach up his nose.

Orochimaru backed up for a second and watched Menma as he started vomiting, desperately trying to get the bug out of him

"I've got this Menma!"-Kurama. Kurama exerted some chakra which killed the roach and Menma vomited it out.

Orochimaru frowned for a second but regained a smile, "Hmm, I guess it's to be expected. But that's what the other bug was for. Orochimaru lifted up the other bug and told him, "Do you remember what this is?"-Orochimaru.

Menma's eyes widened as even more hope drained from his being. It wasn't shaped the same but the color of the thing was distinct. Orochimaru made a sadistic grin, "Ahh you do remember! I don't have to tell you what it does then. But just so you know, because it represents a different bug now it's going to enter your body a different way."-Orochimaru.

"Wha-wha-what do you mean?"-Menma asked weakly. "You'll find out."-Orochimaru answered tossing the leech at him. The leech started crawling up Menma's leg from under his pants. Menma tried to shake it off but it was glued to his skin. Eventually it crawled it's way into his rectum.

Menma screamed so loud that it went past the sound proof walls and door and Sasuke heard it from his room. Sasuke looked up in confusion, "What the hell was that?"-Sasuke. "It was nothing important, just someone trying to kill another prisoner."-Kabuto. Sasuke accepted that answer but thought the scream sounded familiar.

After awhile Menma stopped making noises and fell unconscious from blood loss and utter stress.

Orochimaru then opened his eyelids and tried to take out his eyes again, but he was once again blasted away. Orochimaru grunted pissed off. But then he regained his posture. "Alright, maybe physical pain doesn't affect his eyes."-Orochimaru.

Then an even more sadistic grin appeared on his face, "Maybe... I should try some emotional pain."-Orochimaru said to himself laughing.

Orochimaru left the room and started talking to Kabuto. "Kabuto, I'm going to leave to go on a little trip, I'm gonna need to l capture 3 ninja. One is his pink haired teammate, the next is the heir to the Hyuga clan, and the last is a blonde girl with a fan that Menma is quite fond with."-Orochimaru. Kabuto nodded and continued his work.

Day 3-Leaf Village Nighttime

Sakura was at the park bench she was at when Sasuke left, she couldn't help but still feel worried about him. She was sad that Naruto died, but Sasuke was never as annoying as him, so she missed him more.

But her thoughts were interrupted by a snake slithering up to her and biting her. She threw it off but quickly fell unconscious.

Next was Hinata, Orochimaru snuck a snake into her room to see what was in his surroundings.

On the bed he saw Hinata sitting there with a kunai to her throat, 'No no no, you can't die yet.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru darted at her and bit her, knocking her unconscious.

Orochimaru carried the 2 of them all the way back to his base. He didn't intend on torturing them, they aren't reusable like Menma is.

Kakashi And Co.

Kakashi and his squad was still searching around. Tenten kicked a rock, "Uh! It's been a whole day and we still aren't any closer!"-Tenten.

"I might be able to help with that."-???.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and they saw Gaara. "Gaara! Have you made any progress?"-Temari.

"Yes I have, while I was using my sand eye jutsu I noticed a big area covered that has a lot of residue curse mark chakra. Although that doesn't help much since the area is 10 miles in diameter, so I'm sorry. But I covered the area in sand so you know the border of it."-Gaara.

Kakashi rested a hand on the young redheads shoulder, "You have nothing to be sorry for, good job."-Kakashi. Gaara gave a small smile and said, "Well, let's not waste our time here. We have to find Menma so let me show you the place."-Gaara.

Day 4-Orochimaru's Lair

Menma just sat there, he couldn't sleep with this thing inside him.

Menma went through a few changes lately, his nails were as dark as vantablack now. And his hair was a snow white now. He had lost all of his hope of rescue, now all he was waiting for was death.

Yesterday his body entered Ketosis and he looked less built than usual, also his throat was dry and sore from all the screaming and lack of water.

Orochimaru entered the room again and Menma simply glanced at him, he knew that glaring at him wouldn't do anything so he didn't have any emotions to show except for despair. And Kurama's encouraging words were starting to feel less valuable.

Orochimaru just wanted to hear him scream one last time so he picked up the infamous pliers. He walked over to him and applied pressure on his pinkie finger, then he applied more pressure. Then he put all of his force into it and Menma's nail cracked, but it didn't break. Orochimaru wasn't happy about that, he threw the pliers at a wall and slapped Menma, but when he did one of the bones in his hand broke.

Menma was surprised by this and Kurama answered weakly, "Last night while you couldn't sleep I used some of my chakra to make your skin as hard as titanium. I can't break you out of here, but I can lessen the pain."-Kurama. Menma cracked a smile on his face that he hasn't made in awhile. 'Kurama, you don't need to do that, you need to preserve your chakra, your gonna run out in the next couple of days.'-Menma. "It doesn't matter, the way we met was me protecting you, if need be I'll die protecting you."-Kurama.

Menma had a genuine smile on his face. When everything was bad Kurama was always there to make him feel better. 'Thank you Kurama, you truly are my best friend!'-Menma stated with a bright smile. Kurama smiled back, and in their mindscape they fist bumped.

The moment was heartwarming if you knew what was going on, but Menma's joy was quickly taken away from him when he saw Orochimaru drag Sakura and Hinata into the room.

Menma's eyes widened wider than his muscles should let him. Orochimaru stopped dragging them and dropped them on the floor, they were both chained up.

When their bodies hit the floor Menma felt like his soul entered another reality. He looked around and saw that he was in the same room but it was empty. He also noticed he wasn't in the chair anymore.

He started hearing footsteps and he saw a familiar shadow behind the door. A man walked into the room and Menma gasped at who it was.

He saw himself standing right in front of him, with the same clothes white hair and everything. The only difference was his devilish grin and black eyes with red irises. (This Menma will be referred to with bold letters).

"Who are you?"-Menma. Menma laughed and said, "I'm you Menma, I'm the you that you keep hidden away! Consider me a split personality, I'm the true side of you. Ya know?"-Menma.

Menma looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean true self?"-Menma. "Well Menma, I've been just sitting here watching you live your live around those villagers for awhile now, although I haven't been stuck here forever, remember Sakon and Ukon? That was quite sadistic what you did to them ya know? making brothers turn on each other and saying one of them had to die. And once one of them did! YOU KILLED THE OTHER ONE ANYWAY! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"-Menma.

Menma grunted at this, "I had to know something, I didn't do it for fun... besides they're just bad guys that are too far from saving."-Menma. Menma teleported next to him and spoke with a smile, "Yes, that's right. They're only villains, they don't deserve such sympathy. But let's get a little more personal... what about Orochimaru and the villagers?"-Menma.

Menma shuddered at the name, "Orochimaru is much worse than any of them could ever be."-Menma. Menma let go of him and put his hand on his stomach and started laughing, "Haha, worse." Then his laughs started getting louder. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! WORSE?!?! DO YOU FORGET WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO YOU?!? THEY DID THE SAME THING TO YOU THAT OROCHIMARU IS DOING NOW!!!" Menma regained posture and spoke again, "They tortured you, malnourished you, and more! And look at what Orochimaru's doing! He's not feeding you, and he's torturing you every day!"-Menma.

Menma just stood there, he was still weak because of all that's been happening. "And what about Naruto?"-Menma. Menma noticeably shuddered at the mention of his late brother.

Menma smiled knowing he has him on his hook now. "Orochimaru killed Naruto, and don't forget Sasuke fought Naruto, He's the WHOLE reason this horrible thing happened in the first place! And speaking of hurting Naruto look at the villagers, when ever they beat you hated it. You wanted them dead deep down... but when they hurt Naruto, ohohohoho that was a different story, you wanted to butcher their whole family and SKIN THEM! Don't deny it, you know it's true. Ya know?"-Menma.

Menma stayed silent, he knew he was right. "So, what makes the villagers different from Orochimaru? What makes you want to kill him and not all of them?"-Menma.

Menma was finally ready to speak again, "The villagers are all ignorant of the truth. They only saw the headlines and formed a preposterous conclusion. And then... they let themselves get carried away and took things too far... when the human mind is unleashed... it's a horrible thing. No matter how much I tried to tell them the truth they wouldn't listen."-Menma.

Menma looked at him in the eye and spoke again, "That's right, they LET themselves get carried away, they wouldn't even listen to a word you said. Does such a special kind of ignorance truly deserve such a peaceful life after the abuse they put on you as children?"-Menma.

He left Menma speechless for a minute. Menma knew he was right, he knew that the villagers were the reason he has a sadistic split personality. And he knew that they should- no HAVE to pay for what they've done... no man can escape from their sins.

That's why he never tried thinking much about it, because he knew he had these feelings. But then Menma thought of his brother again, and what he thought of the villagers. So Menma resisted. "You're probably right, but Naruto would have thought differently, Naruto would of thought of the positives, like how if he became a hero and Hokage everyone would acknowledge him and love him. That's the dream Naruto had, and I want to preserve that dream!"-Menma stated proudly with his fist in front of his face.

Menma frowned at this, 'It seems he's slipping off my hook, I guess I'm just gonna have to wait a little while longer.'-Menma.

The world around them started to shake and shatter like glass. "It seems we've run out of time, until our next meeting, Menma."-Menma.

Menma walked out of the door and closed it behind him, and the ground beneath Menma disappeared causing him to fall into darkness.

Menma looked down and saw the same room he was in before he met his split personality and fell back into the chair. Menma was so mesmerized by Menma that he had forgotten about the situation he was in and became saddened again.

Orochimaru had a permanent sadistic smile on his face and spoke, "Menma, these 2 girls right here are good friends of yours, ones your teammate and the other is your brothers stalker of love."-Orochimaru. Hinata and Sakura were struggling trying to get free of their chains.

Orochimaru looked at Menma And said, "I've come to understand something about you lately. You have a strong body, your skin is hard to penetrate, and you heal faster than any human. But where you have strength in the body, you lack in the mind. I'm guessing this all started when you were a child, the people around you broke you down. But the only reason you didn't give up and just die was because Naruto was there, Naruto has an incredibly strong mind. You used Naruto as a purpose in life, as a reason to not just end it all. But now he's gone and you feel lost, it's hard for you to think for yourself when the person you look up to is gone isn't it?"-Orochimaru.

Menma's voice was returning but he didn't respond because he wasn't wrong. "So, to hurt your mind even further, I'm going to kill one of these girls, but you decide which one I save."-Orochimaru.

Menma's eyes widened after learning what his true intentions. Orochimaru grabbed them both by their necks and got excited.

"So, which one is it?"-Orochimaru. No response. Orochimaru lifted both of them up off the ground for a second, "If you don't choose they're both going to die."-Orochimaru. Menma didn't know what to say. Orochimaru's smile widened, "How about I make it sound better, which one do you want me to kill?"-Orochimaru.

Menma was finally able to open his mouth but all that came out was random noises, it was as if his body wouldn't let him speak, he couldn't choose, he just wanted him to stop. He wanted him to kill him and let them go.

Both Sakura and Hinata were screaming under the piece of cloth that covered their mouth. Hinata finally got hers off and yelled at Menma, "Menma, it's ok to choose me!"-Hinata.

Menma still couldn't do anything, even though Hinata asked to be killed he couldn't say anything.

Orochimaru was starting to get impatient and lifted both of them off of the ground. "COME ON MENMA! PICK ONE! THE PINK HAIR OR THE BLUE HAIR? THE LEFT OR THE RIGHT? THE HARUNO OR THE HYUGA? CHOOSE MENMA! THEY'RE BOTH GONNA DIE IF YOU DON'T!"-Orochimaru.

Menma still just sat there and watched on in horror, 'Why... why do I have to always be the one that has to do this? I can't do this, I can't decide between friends, even if I wanted too my body wouldn't let me.'-Menma.

Orochimaru still held them up by the throat, they were both still struggling against his choke but eventually Orochimaru crushed hard enough and they both stopped struggling. Orochimaru dropped their bodies on the floor and Menma just sat there with tears in his eyes, powerless.

Orochimaru walked over to him and said, "All of the disadvantages in this world stems from a person's lack of ability." Orochimaru started walking towards the table and picked up a needle.

He walked back towards him and continued, "Just like you, you lack the ability to be able to save people, first Naruto now these 2 girls. Independent decision making, That's your weakness."-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru knew Menma's skin was too strong to be pierced by a needle now so he injected the needle in the one place he could, under his eyelid. Menma fell unconscious. The last thing he saw was the lifeless eyes of Hinata and Sakura.

Now Orochimaru had to go out early in the morning and capture Temari, what he intended to do with Temari was different than what he did with the other 2 girls, what he intended to do with Temari would show Menma just how powerless he was by not giving him a choice in what happens.

Day 5 Of 7-Temari

'Damn, it's been 5 days now sense Menma went missing, and we've only know he's within an 8 mile radius of here.'-Temari.

Temari stopped searching and took a quick brake and leaned against a tree. A single tear fell from her eye. "Menma, where are you? It has been too long since the last time I've held you... I just wish I knew he was safe."-Temari.

"I can show you him."-???.

Temari turned around slowly with a horrified look in her eyes, she recognized the voice, it had a certain venom in all of his words. She turned all the way around to make eye contact with Orochimaru. Orochimaru put a finger up to his mouth and made a "shhh" sound.

Temari knew she couldn't beat him, so she would try to attract the attention of everyone. She opened her mouth to scream but Orochimaru intercepted her and knocked her out. He put her over his shoulder and carried her towards his lair.

Day 5-Noon

Menma was already awake, he didn't do anything though, he just kept on looking in the direction that 2 of his friends bodies were yesterday.

Kurama didn't really talk much anymore, he knew his words wouldn't have much of an affect on Menma now besides reminding him that he's still here.

Menma felt hopeless, but he still thought it would be possible for someone to find him.

Menma had lost almost all of his build at this point, and his 6 pack was starting to lose its visibility.

Orochimaru walked into the room again and greeted Menma. "Hello again Menma, you need not worry anymore, today is the last time I will torture you, you're no fun anymore anyway."-Orochimaru.

Menma didn't even look up at him. Most things in life were feeling pointless right now.

Orochimaru frowned at the lack of response and picked up a wrench and knocked him over the head with all of his force.

A little bit of blood came out but Menma didn't feel it. He had become numb to the physical pain by this point.

Orochimaru snapped his fingers and a big man entered the room in a prison uniform, he was holding a blonde girl in one arm.

Menma didn't look up, he just remained emotionless and motionless.

The blonde girl looked up at him and weakly spoke, "Menma!"-Temari. Menma felt chills down his spine. He looked up to confirm it was her and with wide eyes instantly started struggling in his chair.

His struggling caused one of the screws to come loss and Orochimaru quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out an obsidian knife. He ran over to Menma and cut all of the nervous system lines in his arms and legs causing him to stop struggling. "Although Obsidian may be somewhat fragile it can cut through almost anything if made sharp enough."-Orochimaru.

"Temari, why are you here?"-Menma. Temari could hear the pain in Menma's voice and felt saddened, "What do you mean why am I here? I'm here to rescue you! Kakashi and all of the Leaf Rookies are also here searching for you!"-Temari.

Menma had felt a little bit of his hope return but Orochimaru quickly took it away, "Actually that entire area that you've been searching was only a decoy. I purposely put all that chakra there to mislead you, we're much further away.

Menma lowered his head again, but he quickly rose it and said, If you hurt her"-"Woah there, where is that bravery coming from? Remember, I'm not here to hurt her, I'm here to hurt you."-Orochimaru.

I just want to warn everyone that this part is probably gonna be the worst, so if you can't handle it skip

Orochimaru snapped his fingers and gave the big man permission to do his job. Orochimaru gave Menma a sadistic look, 'Yesss. After today you won't be able to defend your eyes anymore.'-Orochimaru.

Menma looked scared and worried about what would happen. "Wha-wha-what are you gonna do?"-Menma. Orochimaru walked over to him and put a muzzle on Menma so he couldn't speak.

The man dropped Temari on the ground, and proceeded to strip rip off all of her clothes. The life drained from Menma's eyes when he figured out what was going to happen. Tamari couldn't do anything either, she just laid there naked on the cold ground shivering as her and Menma just looked into each others eyes. "Menma... I'm sca-scared."-Temari. Menma felt even worse knowing he couldn't even try to comfort his love.

The man dropped his pants, and got on the floor, Orochimaru left the room and waited outside.

The man forced Temari into a position, and stuck his member inside of her. Temari screamed in a mix of physical and emotional pain from the stretching it caused and that she lost her virginity to a rapist.

The man started thrusting inside, and outside of her as blood surrounded her entrance from being stretched. Menma screamed and screamed but all that came out were muffled sounds.

Temari continued to be raped for another minute before the man got excited and grabbed her breast and started increasing his speed. Temari had tears rolling down her eyes and just continued to look at Menma.

Eventually the man's pace became random and he stopped and pulled out, revealing Temari to have been came inside of. Temari started sobbing even louder, and started rolling around. The man stood back up and put his pants back on and stood in front of Temari. Temari looked up at him with the fear of God in her eyes, she didn't know what would happen next but stopped sobbing, and told Menma, "Menma, I will always love you... but please... find another woman."-Temari.

Everything in the world went silent as Menma received her words and his eyes widened to the point where he felt like they could fall out, as he saw the man lift his leg and stomped on top of Temari's head, instantly crushing it and leaving a bloody stain on the ground and pieces of broken bones.

The man grabbed her body by the legs and took her away with him, before he left he told Menma, "I think I'll keep her."

Menma didn't cry when he saw that though, he just started to feel weightless and lowered his head as he entered his mindscape, to find that the peaceful forest he use to be in has reverted back to being a sewer.

Kurama didn't know what to say to comfort him, there was nothing he could say. But then he did have something to say, "Menma, I can't do this any longer, I've been completely dra-drained of chakra."-Kurama.

Menma couldn't express any emotion to show his sadness, 'Wha-wha-what do you mean? Kurama, you can't leave me!'-Menma.

"I'm... I'm sorry young Menma, my friend. But I can't survive any longer... and I don't think when I come back I'll be on this planet anymore... so please Menma, don't despair. We both knew this would happen."-Kurama responded shrinking into a human sized form.

Menma ran over to him and hugged him with tears pouring from his eyes, and begged him in a weak voice. "Kurama... please don't leave... I CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU! YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND!"-Menma.

Menma collapsed to his knees and Kurama lowered with him and Menma spoke again, "First Naruto... then Hinata and Sakura... then TEMARI... I can't lose you too Kurama! You were there for me since the start! WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER AS BEST FRIENDS!"-Menma.

Kurama started to fade and so did the world around Menma. "I know Menma, but those eyes will take you to me when your older. Orochimaru is right about those eyes, they will take you to my ancestors home-UGH!"-Kurama.

"KURAMA!"-Menma. "It's alright Menma, I have a couple of gifts for you."-Kurama responded standing up and holding out 2 crystal glowing balls in his hand. Menma looked at them, "What is it?"-Menma. "You'll find out eventually, but please just take it."-Kurama. Menma grabbed it and after he did Kurama fell onto his knees again in pain.

Kurama! Pleeaaase Kurama please! Don't leave me!"-Menma begged. Kurama looked transparent now, "Don't worry young Menma, I'll always be in your heart, besides, this isn't the last time you'll see me... Goodbye now Menma, out of all the people I've met in my lifetime, you are the best. Goodbye, best friend."-Kurama.

Kurama disappeared in Menma's arms, and he returned to the real world. He saw Orochimaru stood in front of him and removed his muzzle. He got close to his ear and whispered, "I'll be back tomorrow."-Orochimaru.

Menma didn't hear anything he said though, Kurama's death was the last straw for Menma. His head fell, the only thing that stopped him from falling out of the chair was that he was strapped to it.

Menma had lost all of his will and hope now. Orochimaru was just too smart, no one would be able to find him. And after losing Kurama, who was everything anyone could ask for and more, he lost his will to life, Menma couldn't even feel bothered to breath anymore.

Everything became black and white again and the world was silent, Menma lost his vision and felt like he was falling after losing his sense of touch. And he started to feel like he had a heart attack. 'I guess that's because Kuramas gone... maybe I'll finally die.'-Menma. At this point the only thing that Menma cared about anymore was when he would finally die and be released from this suffering.

Kabuto eventually walked into the room and looked at the broken soul. Kabuto was an evil guy, but he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Menma. "So, about your golden eyes, I've remembered what the place is called if you want to know now."-Kabuto. Kabuto was looking at the equipment table but noticed he didn't answer him, "Did you hear me?" Kabuto turned around. "Are you listening?"-Kabuto.

Kabuto noticed that Menma still didn't move and ran over to him and lifted his head, it seems his whiskers disappeared and Menma didn't respond to anything he did.

Kabuto ran out of the room to get medical equipment to help him breathe.

Day 5-Nighttime with Kakashi And Co.

Kiba came running into the campsite everyone was at, "Everyone! There's a problem! Temari's gone missing!"-Kiba. Everyone was worried for a second but Gaara reassured everyone, "Don't worry, I put sand inside of her outfit, so I'll activate the sand eye jutsu to find out where she is."-Gaara.

Gaara clapped his hands and activated the jutsu. The sand that was in Temari's clothes slipped out and formed into an eye, the eye looked around the room and saw bloody equipment on a table. And a slightly skinny white haired teen in a titanium chair.

Gaara looked confused for a second and brought the eye closer to the boy and looked at his face. Gaara recognized who it was, it was Menma, but his whiskers were gone and his hair was snow white, also he had a respirator attached to his face. He also looked like he wasn't even alive.

Gaara had a look on his face of half happiness half worry. "Everyone! I know where Menma is, we should go now!"-Gaara. Everyone stood up with determination and followed Gaara.

'Menma, just hang in there a bit longer, we're coming for you.'-Kakashi. 'Menma... please be alive when we get to you. I can't lose another friend.'-Gaara.

Day 6 of 7- Orochimaru's Lair

Menma woke up again, and realized that the room was completely empty, but he was still in the chair. He heard footsteps at the door again and the man that entered was Menma.

'It's him again.'-Menma.

Menma walked towards him and stopped right in front of his face. "Damn, well it seems 2 more people close to you died now, and it seems you were wrong about someone coming to save you. Why do you think that is?"-Menma.

Menma submitted, "It's all m-my fault."-Menma. "My oh my, you always blame yourself, but you never try to change... it is your fault. How do you think you got in this situation in the first place? Is it an accident? All part of Orochimaru's plan? Is it a coincidence? Is it fate?"-Menma.

Menma became more sad, "No, it's all my fault... I wasn't strong enough."-Menma.

Menma smiled slightly and leaned in, "So you finally get it, all of their deaths are your fault because your too weak. What have you been doing for the past few years huh? You could have been training to control Kurama's power better! Or even better, you could of tried to help Naruto with being friends with his Kurama. But what do you do? You just sit on your ass around the village all day."-Menma.

"The only reason you're not fat is because you only train enough just to stay in shape. And look what doing that got you... Naruto's dead."-Menma.

"Stop."-Menma. "Sweet Hinata's dead."-Menma. "Please stop talking."-Menma. "Naive little Sakura's dead."-Menma. "Shut up."-Menma. "Temari was raped and killed."-Menma.

"SHUT UP!!!"-Menma yelled as he broke out of the titanium chair and started choking Menma.

Menma only smiled though as he continued, "And now, your dearest friend Kurama, is dead. Because you let yourself be too weak."-Menma. Menma lost his strength and let go of Menma and backed away from him.

"And then, after you die, that will only be the beginning."-Menma. The world transformed around them and Menma looked around to see a burned down village, the 5 stone heads of the Hokage were destroyed and on the ground.

"Orochimaru isn't going to stop with you, he wants to destroy the leaf remember? Alllllll of your friends will be cut down and killed" Menma announced pointing a hand at where Orochimaru was standing on the bodies of all the rookies dead. He saw Kakashi with a broken arm standing in front of him charging a chidori and running at Orochimaru.

Menma pushed Menma away from him and ran at Orochimaru and tried to tackle him but he faced right through him, he turned around and looked back to see Kakashi impaled on the Kusanagi blade.

Menma broke down more, "All of this because you were too weak, and too slow to save anyone. And what will happen if they do somehow save you? What will they think of you after all of these 3 girls died? What will your 3 dearest people do?"-Menma.

Menma snapped his fingers and Menma appeared inside the room again. He saw Neji, Kakashi, and Gaara run in.

Menma felt happiness seeing them but then they looked at him in disgust, "You let Hinata die."-Neji. "First my brother and now my sister are both dead because of you!"-Gaara. Then it was Kakashi. Kakashi spit on him and said, "First you left the village knowing Sasuke was struggling, but then you let him fall into enemy hands, and you didn't stop there, you let your brother and your teammate die too."-Kakashi.

The 3 of them left the room and tossed a kunai at Menma, "How about you just end your life? You're the worst kind of scum."-Kakashi.

Hearing those words from his father figure and his 2 friends destroyed him. "Wh-wh-why would they say that?"-Menma. Menma sat there for a second and stood up before wiping away his tears.

Menma was starting to feel tired of being sad all the time, he started to feel anger. "Why do I always have to be the one that gets the short straw?"-Menma.

Menma was starting to feel his happiness growing cause he knew what he was doing was working, "You know exactly why Menma, it's all because of you! You worry soooooo much about other people like Naruto and the rest of them, that you've forgotten about your own happiness! But that's alright isn't it? As long as your friends are safe and happy, it doesn't matter what happens to you right?"-Menma.

"No, I worry too much about others... but I don't focus on myself enough to be strong enough to protect them. That's what led me to this sadness."-Menma.

"Oh but Menma, what about what Naruto would have wanted?"-Menma. Menma clenched his teeth and with pure anger in his voice he shouted, "SCREW WHAT NARUTO WANTS!!!"-Menma.

"Yes yes YES MENMA! NOW TELL ME, WHO'S THE ONE WHO SHOWED YOU HOW WEAK YOU ARE?! THE ONES WHO PROVED TO YOU THAT YOU CAN'T PROTECT ANYONE EVEN WHEN YOU DEDICATE YOUR LIFE TO IT!?!?"-Menma.

"THE VILLAGERS AND OROCHIMARU!!!"-Menma. "AND WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?!?!"-Menma. "KILL THEM ALL!!!"-Menma. AND HOW ARE YOU GONNA DO IT?!?"-Menma. "SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY!!"-Menma. "AND WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO IF SOMEONE GETS IN YOUR WAY?!?"-Menma. "I'LL KILL THEM TOO!"-Menma.

Menma's grin grew wider than the human body should allow, "Yes Yes YES MENMA!!!!!!!! But your current self is too weak, all you have to do is shake my hand, and my power will be yours."-Menma.

Menma didn't hesitate and firmly shook his hand and the deal was done, "Until death do us part."-Menma. 'Finally I'll be able to have some fun.'-Menma thought as he started dissolving and his body was absorbed by Menma.

The world around Menma crumbled once again and he found himself in the room again.

Menma's eyes turned into black and red again and he lowered his head slightly so his hair could cover his eyes. Menma started giggling to himself as he was finally free again.

This chapter took me around 8 hours to make. Once I got to the part where Temari was raped I started feeling disgusted in myself and I almost cried imagining it, for a little while I felt discouraged to continue writing, but I managed to come back. Also I was planning on making the scene worse but this story is already dark enough, so I'll see you all again next chapter. And don't worry, people aren't gonna die much after this, only one person is gonna die next chapter, and then there won't be death for a while.

Well technically a second person will die but that's a surprise.

Also the main inspiration I had for this chapter is from Tokyo Ghoul. Although I expanded upon that and made it worse, at least from what I've seen in the anime, not sure about the manga.


	7. The End

Orochimaru walked into the room with a smile on his face and removed Menma's respirator.

"Today is finally the day I take your eyes Menma. Then you'll finally die, so you don't mind if I make it slow do you?"-Orochimaru spoke proudly with a laugh. Menma laughed right back at him, "You truly quite the shining example of an inconsequential man aren't you?"-Menma responded looking up at him with an equally as sadistic smile.

Orochimaru backed up some from surprise, but started walking towards him, "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, it seems you've truly gone crazy now, Now Menmaaaaaa. GIVE ME YOUR EYES!!!"-Orochimaru yelled and got within breathing distance of Menma. Menma took advantage of the close quarters and broke right through the titanium and grabbed Orochimaru by the throat and slammed him into the ground, causing the ground to crumble.

Menma started punching into him relentlessly, each hit on his body broke one of his bones, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, COME ON COME ON COME ON COME ON!!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU A MINUTE AGO? YOU WERE GONNA KILL ME WEREN'T YOU?!?"-Menma. Menma took the obsidian knife from Orochimaru's pocket and stabbed himself in the stomach and pulled out the leech that Orochimaru put in him. "Here Orochimaru, you can have this back."-Menma.

Menma forced open Orochimaru's mouth and shoved the dead leech down his throat. Orochimaru regurgitated and vomited. But Menma didn't let him recover and placed the blade over Orochimaru's arms.

"How about I hear you scream a little?"-Menma. Menma slowly stabbed the blade into his wrist and started drawing up Orochimaru's arms. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"-Orochimaru. Menma took out the blade and mocked him, "Awwww, what's wrong Orochimaru? You can make people deal with all that pain but you can't even handle a percentage of it?"-Menma.

Menma put the blade over Orochimaru's stomach, "How about I take a few organs first, then we'll move on to something a little more fun!-Menma. Orochimaru had some fear in his eyes, he thought he mentally and physically destroyed him, but here he was overpowering him, and he planned to give him the same pain.

Before Menma could do anything though he was interrupted by a chakra enhanced drop kick by Kabuto. Menma flew through a wall and Orochimaru ran out of the room.

"So it seems you aren't depressed anymore, it seems your trying to get your revenge. but yo"- Kabuto was interrupted by Menma climbing through the wall, and his eyes flashing and he was laughing endlessly.

Menma looked him straight in the eyes and he had the widest grin he's ever seen, his killer intent made the walls around him vaporize, "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! YOU THINK I CARE ABOUT SUCH A TRIVIAL THING LIKE REVENGE?!? NONE OF THOSE PEOPLE MATTER TO ME!!!! THEY COULD BE KILLED OR RAPED A HUNDRED TIMES AND I WOULDN'T BE CONCERNED!!!!! I'M NOT EFFECTED BY SUCH A STUPID THING LIKE LOSS, THE REASON I WAS GOING TO TORTURE AND KILL OROCHIMARU IS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT PUTS A SMILE ON MY FACE!!!!"-Menma. Kabuto's glasses shattered and some of his clothes shredded. "YOUR MERE EXISTENCE IS THE REASON I LIVE!!! I LIVE TO MAKE PEOPLE SUFFER, YOU THINK I'LL STOP WITH YOU??? NO!!! ONCE I'M DONE HERE I'M GONNA GO TO THE LEAF VILLAGE! I'LL KILL ALL THEIR LEADERS AND PUT THEIR HEADS ON PIKES!! I'LL PARADE THEM THROUGH THE STREETS AS PEOPLE LOOK ON!! THEN TAKE EVERY CHILD AND EXECUTE THEM IN FRONT OF THEIR PARENTS! I'LL HAVE EVERY WIFE RAPED AND EVERY PREGNANT WOMAN DECAPITATED!! THE MEN WILL BE GUTTED OF ALL THEIR INTESTINES AND I'LL HANG THE ELDERLY FROM BUILDINGS WITH THEM!!!! THEN AFTER THAT I'LL GO TO EVERY VILLAGE AND DO THE SAME THING!!! ONLY THEN WILL I BE SATISFIED!!!!!"-Menma.

The sheer pressure of Menma's chakra caused Kabuto to have a heart attack and just sat there in pain. Menma let his killer intent subside and he slightly frowned at Kabuto before walking past him and picking up some of the jars with leeches in them and put them in a bag before running for the exit of the hideout

The real Menma had just become somewhat conscious and could see everything going on although he wasn't in control of his body, "Is it safe to leave Kabuto alive?"-Menma. "The heart attack will kill him."-Menma.

Menma kept on running until he entered a big room that was lined with prisoners, all the prisoners saw him. "Orochimaru said we would be set free if we killed you, so nothing personal."-???.

Everyone in the room started to approach him, it was at least a hundred prisoners. Menma simply laughed hysterically. "Bring it!"-Menma.

They all charged him and Menma let then come at him with open arms. They tackled him and they all started beating on him brutally.

Menma laid there in the middle with a disappointed look and yawned, "Your all to weak."-Menma. Menma ignored there attempts to attack and used wood style to make wooden spikes appear out of the ground and impaled 70 of them.

The other 30 ran at him though and Menma grabbed a punch from one and crushed his hand, and used his body as a shield to block a drop kick from one and made a spear come out of his hand and shot it through his body shield and 5 other prisoners. Menma dropped his body looked over at the remaining 24 and saw them trying to run away. Menma smiled at the sign of fear and blocked the exit with wood and started molding chakra into his left arm. The remaining prisoners turned around with fear as Menma formed a chidori out of black and white lightning. The prisoners got on their knees and started begging for their lives, Menma would of liked to have fun with them but he had no time for this so he blitzed all of them with the Chidori.

Menma was about to leave the room but heard something behind him. It was the man from before who raped Temari. "That's him! He has to pay for what he did."-Menma.

Menma didn't care about revenge but Menma was his other personality so he thought he would please him this once. At least that's what he thought, but the truth was that Menma's personality was influencing his actions.

The man was slowly walking away holding the spot where his right arm used to be. Menma rose some roots up from the ground and tripped him.

The man turned around and simply said "Come on man... it's not like I had a choice, I didn't want to do it but he would kill me if I didn't!"-???.

Menma simply looked at the man and said, "Don't feed me that bullshit, you probably volunteered to do it. So, I'm gonna show you the same mercy you showed sweet Temari."-Menma.

Menma reached in the bag he held and pulled out a needle. "This is the needle Orochimaru used on me to make me more sensitive to everything, especially pain. If you're so good at hurting people then I guess you won't mind being hurt."-Menma.

The man begged for mercy as Menma reached into his bag and pulled out 4 jars with leeches in them. "Wha-wha-what are you doing?!?"-???. Menma didn't acknowledge any of his words and pulled out all of the leeches and tossed them at him.

Warning, The Next Scene Will Be Nasty

The man tried to shake them off but they were glued to him. "GE-GET THEM OFF!!!"-???. Menma's grin grew from ear to ear as he saw the leeches enter his body all at different holes. One crawled into his rectum, another slid into his throat, another slithered into his ear. And the last one stretched out his penis and crawled inside of him. "GWA-ACK-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH"-???.

Menma started feeling horny at the site and he yelled, "SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT!!!! OOOOOH THE MISERY AND DISGUST IS ELEGANT!!"-Menma. Menma continued to look on as the man started to have a seizure as the leeches crawled under his skin. Menma took the jars and poured the liquids in them onto the man's stomach. Menma unzipped his pants at the sight of the man's torture and started masturbating. All of the leeches started crawling into the center of his intestines and started eating out of his stomach. The man's stomach exploded as the leeches crawled out of him and the man died the most painful death imaginable.

Menma looked down and saw a pair of keys on his pants. Menma grabbed them and zipped back up his pants and started leaving.

Menma started walking down some more corridors and was starting to breathe the first puff of fresh air in a week. Menma stood in front of the door where the key was suppose to go and unlocked the door. He opened the door and his Menma side shined as his eyes widened in disgust and horror.

There in the room was Temari's headless body, naked, chained up into a lewd position.

Menma quickly slammed the door shut and vomited. "I didn't do enough to that motherfucker."-Menma.

The Menma side of him subsided and he returned back into his Menma side. Menma was gonna start running but was interrupted when he saw a raven haired kid leave their room. Menma grinned when he saw him.

"That's Sasuke! Wait a minute... Sasuke. Sasuke... Sasuke. He's the main reason this all happened in the first place."-Menma. 'Yeah, that's right, if he wasn't so selfish Naruto would've never been sent on that mission. So what do you want to do to him?"-Menma. Menma lost his resolve and some of his reason for a minute and said, "Kill him."-Menma.

That was all Menma had to hear. Menma blitzed Sasuke and slammed his head into a wall. Menma released his head and looked at him, "You use to be a friend of mine... so I won't make this hurt too much."-Menma. Sasuke was gonna try to say something but Menma turned him around and started slamming his head into the wall, over, and over, and over, and over again. Sasuke's blood was slowly painting the wall and his grunts eventually stopped. Menma restrained some laughs as he dropped Sasuke's body back into the room it was in and closed the door.

Menma started walking up the steps but fell, "No! Damn it. My time is done already?"-Menma. Menma quickly calmed down though, "No matter, there will be other times, like once we go back to the village."-Menma.

Menma's eyes returned to normal and he stood up but tripped again. 'I feel like my bones will shatter at any moment!'-Menma. But Menma forced himself up the stairs, and rested onto the grass.

Menma laid there, he finally had a chance to relax. But then everything that just happened seeped into his mind. He just killed Sasuke. Menma started to feel like he betrayed himself, "No, NNNNNOOOOO!!!"-Menma.

'What would Kakashi think of me? This is exactly what Menma was talking about, Kakashi once said those who fail the mission are scum, but those who let their friends die are worse than scum. Well I just did both of those things. I can't let Kakashi find out.'-Menma.

Menma started hearing footsteps approaching. He was greeted by the face of a white haired man with a mask, and 12 other people.

Menma felt he'd lose consciousness any second. Kakashi smiled down at him, "Menma, we finally found you!"-Kakashi.

Gaara got a little closer, "Where is Temari? She was supposed to be with you."-Gaara.

Menma hesitated for a second, but pointed down the stairs at the room to the right. Gaara ran down and opened the door to the room.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"-Gaara. That's what Menma heard last before losing consciousness.

Leaf Village Hospital

Menma seemed to be showing symptoms similar to a coma, and he wasn't expected to wake up for a week. Not much changed in the Leaf while he was gone. The only thing that happened was people heard that Sasuke Hinata and Sakura were killed while Menma was away. Something that happened after that was people were making up gossip about it, but Teuchi overheard and got a whole street to listen to him as he told them about all of their crazy nonsense, and told them what really happened. After that a percentage of the village stopped hating Menma, but unfortunately it wasn't part of the village he lived in. The part of the village he lived in just grew a stronger hate towards him. And outside of the village Gaara was finally called Kazekage and he established a friendship with the Leaf, but Gaara was feeling depressed sense his sister died, the only reason he agreed to still become Kazekage was because he knew he still had Menma. But he had a female advisor named Matsuri who stuck around and comforted him, so he was was still depressed, but managing.

Menma woke up in the hospital and realized he wasn't strapped down to the chair. He snapped his fingers just to make sure that he wasn't restrained by something about and stood out of bed. Menma had a flashback to a week earlier when he did that and thought he was gonna collapse on the ground so he braced himself. Except nothing happened.

Menma then remembered that Kurama told him that he gave him a gift. "Hey Kurama, thanks for the quick healing gi"- Menma cut himself off because he just remembered, 'Oh... right.'-Menma.

Menma walked into the bathroom and looked at himself to see if he looked good enough to walk in public. He noticed he didn't have whiskers anymore, and his hair was entirely white now. And he looked like he lost a lot of build.

Menma decided he needed some fresh air and something to eat, so he made a wood clone in his place and left the hospital.

While he was walking down the road he saw Neji, he was gonna wave but he saw Neji crying with Hiashi and a few other family members. More memories came back to Menma and he remembered how he let both Hinata and Sakura die.

Menma dropped his hand and continued walking. He came across Ichiraku Ramen and entered the place.

Menma had his head down so Ayame didn't recognize him. He ordered 5 bowls of Ramen and started eating for the first time in a week. "You know you have quite the appetite. You remind me of these 2 kids who used to come here and eat all the time, you know we have 2 dishes named after them!"-Ayame.

Menma looked to his left and visualized his brother sitting there, he thought it was him for a second so he reached out to him but his hand passed right through him. Menma lost his appetite and payed before leaving.

He continued down the street knowing that nothing would ever be the same again. While was walking he fell because something hit him in the head. He looked up and saw an alcoholic with a broken bottle in his hand, "What do you think you're doing back here after what you did?!?-Man.

The man brought attention to himself and other people began to recognize who it was and they walked over too. "Come on Menma, this is what we talked about! Kill them!"-Menma.

Menma felt one of his eyes begin to transform but he stopped it, 'NO! I can't... I just can't.'-Menma. Menma tried to force out the transformation though and he felt one of his hands start producing wood, Menma grabbed his hand to stop it, but the hand shot the wood into the ground and stabbed the body of one of the villagers. "NOOO!"-Menma. "YES!"-Menma. Menma was only in control of half of his body and was starting to lose control of the other half, "NO! I heard what you said about killing everyone, I went let you!!"-Menma. Menma grabbed the obsidian knife he remembered was in his pocket and stabbed himself in the leg. Menma's hold over his body released and Menma ran away to go back home.

The villagers he left behind just stood there in shock at what had just happened. And one of them thought of something, "Did anyone else notice that it looked like he was fighting someone off in his mind?"-Lady. Then another came to an educated conclusion, "Yeah, it looked like something was possessing him... do you think that it was the fox spirit?"-Lady 2. The crowd dispersed and everyone was left to their thoughts of if Menma was the actual demon or if something inside of him was.

Menma made it back home and started thinking maybe he should of stayed in the hospital, anywhere he goes he just comes across a problem.

"Kakashi! I'm home."-Menma. No response. Menma walked further into the house and saw a note on the table. He picked it up and read...

Dear Menma,

If you're reading this then you should know that I found Sasuke's body. I don't know what's wrong with you, but you've betrayed me and everything that I taught you. And also I saw Kabuto, he was still alive and he told me everything that you did. About how you let Naruto die then when Orochimaru captured my student and Hinata you let him kill both of them even though you had a choice. And then worst of all you brutally killed your own teammate Sasuke. You have brought shame to the name of a Leaf, the Uzumakis, and your a disgrace of a friend. I'm giving you this one chance to leave the village, or else ninja will be sent to kill you and I'll be one of those ninjas.

Sincerely, Kakashi

Menma dropped the letter onto the ground and collapsed onto the ground. The very first human that truly accepted him just told him to leave the village and called him a disgrace. Menma felt like he was suffocating so he ripped off his shirt.

1 Hour Later

Menma sat in his bed rocking back and forth with tears in his eyes, 'I can't just leave the village, I can't survive on my own... I can't even go anywhere because I have no one left now...'-Menma.

Menma lost his will to do anything again, Menma looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that his eyes were slowly turning again. 'And I can't stay... or else I will be killed. And I don't think I'll be able to do anything soon... Menma's gonna take over my body and kill everyone... I've lost the will to fight back. This isn't worth living for anymore.'-Menma. Menma then remembered the blade that was in his pocket, he took it out and looked at it.

Menma took a deep breath and held the blade up to his heart, and stabbed himself. The blade swiftly passed through his heart and he felt a quick jolt of pain. But the pain wasn't comparable to everything else he's experienced.

Menma lost his strength and his grip on the blade loosened. And after a few more seconds, he was dead.

Konoha Hospital

Kakashi stood over Menma's unconscious body, "When are you gonna wake up?"-Kakashi. Kakashi looked down but he looked up when he noticed Menma's body started to erode like wood. "What the hell?"-Kakashi.

Menma's body lost it's color and transformed into wood. "A wood clone?"-Kakashi.

Kakashi felt happy for a minute but then was a little upset, "Why would he leave without telling anyone?"-Kakashi.

Kakashi stood up and jumped out the window to search for Menma, his first stop was to check the 4ths head then he would check back home.

30 Minutes Later

Kakashi got home and brought Iruka with him to find Menma. Kakashi opened the door and walked in, "Wait here, MENMA!"-Kakashi. Kakashi walked further into the house and saw a note on the ground and picked it up and read it.

Kakashi's eyes widened some, 'Who the Hell wrote this?!?! With the current state Menma's mind is in this could make something bad happen.'-Kakashi. Kakashi picked up the pace and walked over to Menma's room, "MENMA, ARE YOU IN THERE?!"-Kakashi.

Kakashi opened the door and was solid as a statue when he looked at Menma. He slowly walked over to him and held him in his arms, "Menma, Menma Menma. You're alright, you're alright."-Kakashi. Iruka peeked in the door and his eyes widened, "Oh my God..."-Iruka. "Get Tsunade... GET TSUNADE!!!"-Kakashi. Iruka ran out of the house as fast as he could and ran towards the Hokage tower.

With Tsunade

"Where's Kakashi? He was supposed to come here half an hour ago."-Tsunade. "It seems like he got distracted by something that happened, also apparently Menma's out of the hospital!"-Shizune.

Tsunade's face glowed up some, "Really now? Maybe that's why Kakashi's gone. Have Menma come here in the morning, I haven't talked to him in so long!"-Tsunade.

Tsunade was interrupted when Iruka ran threw the door, "Lady Tsunade! You need to come with me now!"-Iruka. Tsunade stood up from her desk, "Come with you where?"-Tsunade. "ITS MENMA! HE MIGHT DIE IF YOU DON'T COME IN TIME!"-Iruka. That was all Tsunade needed to hear and she responded by saying, "Lead the way!

Kakashi's House

Tsunade arrived and it was now noon. Tsunade rushed into the house and into Menma's room where Kakashi was with Menma's body.

Kakashi looked over at her with desperate eyes, "Is there anything you can do?"-Kakashi. Tsunade jogged over to him and told Kakashi, "When I take out the blade compress the wound so more blood doesn't come out!"-Tsunade. Kakashi nodded and pulled out the blade and threw it behind him. Tsunade molded some chakra into her hand and placed it over Menma's heart while Kakashi compressed the wound. Tsunade was trying to generate a pulse out of him.

But nothing happened. Tsunade put more chakra into her hands but still nothing happened. She looked at Menma's colorless eyes, even in death his eyes showed sadness. 'What the hell did Orochimaru do to you?'-Tsunade.

Tsunade couldn't begin to comprehend what happened to him but she heard about certain people who were kidnapped. The 3 of them were all close to Menma in some way. Tsunade raised her hand off of Menma's heart and stopped channeling chakra.

Kakashi looked at her with anticipation, "So will he live?"-Kakashi. Kakashi's voice didn't hold back any sadness, he has had a life full of loss himself. But losing both of his children, one to murder, and the other to suicide really made him feel like a failure. Tsunade looked at him with a sadness of her own in her eyes, "No, he was already dead before I got here."-Tsunade. Tsunade also felt destroyed by his death, next to Naruto he seemed like the most kind hearted child she's ever met. Menma always put other people in front of himself, but he did it so much that he started thinking that his own life wasn't as valuable as others.

Kakashi rested Menma's body on the bed and collapsed onto his knees and ripped off his mask cause he felt like he would suffocate. He started punching the floor. "Damn it... Damn it... DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT!!!!"-Kakashi. Tsunade sat down cause she felt like she would fall and put her face in her hands crying.

After about 10 minutes of crying they both calmed down and Tsunade asked, "What do you think made him lose the last of his hope?"-Tsunade. Kakashi looked up at her with his mask off and said, "Someone came into my house and put a note on the table with my handwriting, it told him to leave the village or else he would be hunted down, and it also said about how I was disgusted by him letting those girls and Sasuke die and how he brought shame to me."-Kakashi.

Tsunade looked at him wide eyed, "But you would never even think of saying something like that! Why would he believe that?"-Tsunade asked with curiosity in her voice. "I guess since he was already in a weak mental state after everything that happened and he blamed himself for everything."-Kakashi.

They sat there a bit longer before Kakashi spoke again, "Orochimaru was right about what he said to me during the chunin exams, I am a horrible father."-Kakashi.

Tsunade walked over to him and comforted him, "Don't listen to anything Orochimaru says, I've known him all my life and all he does is hurt and manipulate people! You're a great father, you were the first person in the world to accept them as who they really were and saved them! You risked your rights as a ninja and even killed a villager to save them! So don't you DARE say your a bad father! You're one of the greatest dads I know!"-Tsunade.

Kakashi lost his frown and smiled up at her. Tsunade almost kissed him but he was a couple decades younger than her so she just hugged him. He hugged back as well as he could considering Tsunade's breast size.

The Next Day

Tsunade sat in her office with a bottle of Sake in her hand when all of a sudden a couple of the council members walked in the room.

"Tsunade, since Menma died recently we have decided to announce the truth about him since we won't have to worry about the threat of Minato's enemies anymore."-Elder lady.

Tsunade looked at them with disdain and asked, "You're telling me you didn't already do that?!?"-Tsunade.

The man answered, "Well Minato had many powerful enemies like the cloud village, we can't just"- they were cut off by Tsunade punching through her desk and yelling, "DON'T FEED ME THAT BULLSHIT!!! YOU WANTED THIS POOR KID TO SUFFER DIDN'T YOU?!? WE'RE THE MOST POWERFUL VILLAGE OF 5 GREAT NATIONS!!! THE ONLY PERSON WHO WAS CONSIDERED CAPABLE OF FIGHTING ONE OF THE HOKAGE WAS THE 3RD RAIKAGE AND HE'S DEAD!!!"-Tsunade. The elders stood back for a second, "Lady Tsunade, you must understand"-"Understand what?!?! There's nothing to understand! We still have MANY powerful ninja in the village! Like Kakashi, Jiraiya, and more!"-Tsunade.

The elders were silenced, they realized that she was right. They simply gave her a paper with a script on it. "We understand, you're right about us being the strongest village, but please just announce this on top of the tower at noon today."-Elder Male.

Tsunade took the paper and simply grunted. She saw a pigeon fly into the window and saw it was from Gaara's advisor Matsuri.

Dear Lady Hokage,

I'm contacting you to warn you that we won't be able to assist you anytime soon. Due to you giving us the news of Menma's death Lord Gaara has hidden away in the desert, he told me that he was afraid he would go crazy again since he's lost his last friend. Tension is rising in the village and we would love to have some help with all of this.

Sincerely Kazekage's Advisor Matsuri

Tsunade was shocked at the news, "Menma... why did you have to do it? What made you think everyone hates you and blames you for their loved ones deaths? You're life had a lot more value than you think it did."-Tsunade.

Noon

Tsunade stood on top of the tower and a crowd of villagers waited at the bottom to receive the news.

Tsunade didn't know but news spread fast of that incident of him being attacked before he committed suicide. The vast majority of the villagers were currently feeling conflicted about the true nature of Menma. And after he killed himself the villagers had started thinking that they might have been wrong. They originally thought he was a demon who was gonna kill them all, but it doesn't make sense for a demon to kill themselves. Some of the villagers even started thinking that Menma killed himself to protect them from the demon. It wasn't the entire truth but it was much better than what they use to think.

Tsunade cleared her throat and started the speech, "After the recent death of Menma and Naruto Uzumaki the council has decided to reveal what transpired during the night of the Kyuubi attack, and their heritage. First of all during that night the 4th Hokage had his 3 year old son with him while his wife Kushina Uzumaki was in labor, the 3 year old child was Menma, and the child being born was Naruto."-Tsunade.

There were a lot of gasped in the crowd and people started whispering in the crowd but Tsunade continued, "But something went wrong that night, we don't know for sure but we think the village was attacked during Naruto's birth and the 9 tails was released. At the end of that night before Minato died, he didn't die for nothing. The Kyuubi didn't transform into 2 demon children, but in fact Minato cut the 9 tails in half and sealed them inside of the 2 children!"-Tsunade. This caused some people to despair because they realized something, "So think about that, these "demon brothers" as you called them were actually the children of the 4th Hokage."-Tsunade.

Tsunade didn't wait for a reaction and left the mansion, she had to meet with Kakashi for the planned funeral tomorrow.

There was yelling in the crowd and after awhile the crowd dispersed. The village was silent that night as everyone was left to think.

The elders also told them that they were invited to come to Menma's funeral tomorrow, but one thought that every villager held in their head was that they didn't deserve to be in the presence of Menma's body after everything they did.

I guess it's kinda funny how easily a person's mind can be changed by a single sentence.

During that night Kakashi decided he'd retire as a ninja for now at least. He needed time to recover from those deaths.

Menma's Funeral

That night Menma's funeral had more people at his funeral.

Everyone that went to Naruto's funeral came to his, minus Gaara and Temari. But more people that did arrive were a lot of people from the clans of the rookies.

Once everyone was there the funeral began.

Outside The Village

A man with an orange mask stood on top of a tree and watched below as mist ninja were running towards the village. "I'm surprised Yagura is still able to seem like a powerful leader after certain things I made him do. But no matter, since the 3rd Hokage and the 9 tails Jinchuriki are dead I'll finish what I started more than a decade ago and destroy this pitiful village."-???.

"Most of the villages most powerful ninja are gathered at the graveyard, so they'll strike their first. It's midnight so a simple sound nullification genjutsu is all it will take to prevent reinforcements."-???.

The man turned around and left after seeing Yagura himself run behind all of the ninja towards the Leaf village.

Menma's Funeral

There were more tears at this funeral than Naruto's. There was something truly depressing about gaining back a friend and then having them taken from you again. Even the sky was crying.

The casket was lowered all the way into the grave and they finished burying him.

Kakashi lifted his head and sniffed the air before he realized he smelled burning. Kakashi's eyes widened as he realized what it was and warned everybody, "EVERYONE JUMP!"-Kakashi.

Kakashi said it in a battle kind of tone so everyone knew what he was saying and they all jumped into the air as a lot of the ground beneath them blew up.

Everyone landed and the graveyard became surrounded by Mist ninja. "Your gonna attack us during a funeral? This is low, even for the blood mist."-Hiashi.

The leaf heard a giggling sound and looked in the direction of the source and saw Yagura. "That's cute Hyuga, it's pretty low to enslave half of your family too isn't it?"-Yagura replied with a passive aggressive smirk. Neji responded this time by saying, "We don't do that anymore!"-Neji.

Everyone was stopped though by the dark chakra emitting from Kakashi as he revealed his sharingan, his chakra was making the ground beneath him crumble, "Enough talking, you've really decided to pick me off at the wrong time. My son just died and you decide to attack my home? That mistake is gonna cost you your life."-Kakashi.

All of the rookies smirked at Kakashi in agreement and everyone got into a fighting position. The odds didn't look good for the Leaf, it was 50 vs at least 1000. But the leaf believed in their will of fire and started the battle.

10 Minutes Later

The Leaf was standing strong as they knocked out 300 mist ninja and only some of the rookies became too tired to fight well offensively.

Hiashi and Neji stood back to back against 30 ninja and smiled at each other and they both lowered into a position and said, "8 Trigrams: 128 palms!"

The ninja charged at them but were unprepared for the speed of their attacks. Blow after blow slowly immobilized all of the ninja.

They both stood their victorious and continued fighting more ninja.

Over with Kakashi he was fighting off 60 ninja by himself. He was having small levels of difficulty with them and created a shadow clone. He created a chidori cable and ran past 20 of the ninjas instantly neutralizing them. 5 of them threw kunai at him and Kakashi caught them all with his fingers, he spun around and placed paper bombs on all of them before throwing the kunai back at them. Some hit ninja and others hit the ground in front of ninja. They all blew up causing 10 of the mist ninjas to die. One swung a sword a Kakashi but Kakashi split it in half with a chop and stabbed his assaulter with it before throwing the body at another group. While they were blinded Kakashi disappeared into the ground and jumped out above all of them before creating 4 mud walls around them and using a fireball jutsu to burn them all.

There were now 20 ninja left that were fighting Kakashi and they started running, Kakashi smirked at this and thought, 'I love it when they run.'-Kakashi. Kakashi created 2 Chidoris In his hands and blitzed all of them before jumping towards another crowd of mist ninja.

Tsunade was currently fighting the Mizukage and was gaining the upper hand. Yagura summoned 2 more Water Dragon Jutsus and shot them at Tsunade but she just punched right through them and got a direct hit on Yagura's face, sending him flying into the ground. Yagura coughed up some blood, "Call off your ninja and return home unless you want me to finish you."-Tsunade.

Yagura laughed at her offer and his chakra started becoming more intense. "Give UP?!? BUT THE FUNS JUST BEGINNING!!!"-Yagura.

Yagura transformed into the 3 tails and Tsunade looked up in surprise.

After that the tide of battle turned and the 500 Mist Ninja started winning.

Elsewhere

Menma's soul was drifting around in nothingness, until his body started falling into a light. Menma regained consciousness and fell into sewer water. He looked around in confusion and heard a man laughing behind him.

Ok everyone, I'm sure all that happened in this chapter is really surprising you, but bear with me. After this chapter important people aren't really gonna die much anymore.


	8. A New Beginning

Menma's spirit woke up in a sewer and he looked around confused seeing nothing. "Is this hell?"-Menma. He heard a chuckle coming from behind him and he turned around to see a man floating above the ground on a staff with a white cloak. The cloak had tomoe all around it and the man looked like he had 3 eyes.

"Who are you?"-Menma. "I am Hagaromo Otsutsuki. The sage of the 6 paths."-Hagoromo. Menma gasped in surprise, "I read about you in books before! But what are you doing here? I killed myself."-Menma.

Hagaromo closed his eyes for a second and looked at him, "Why did you kill yourself?"-Hagaromo. "Well... because I let myself fall into the hands of an evil being, and he made me kill a close friend. And before that happened 2 of my friends were killed right in front of me and my girlfriend was raped and killed in front of me... AND NOT JUST THAT! BUT I WAS TOO SLOW AND TOO WEAK TO EVEN SAVE MY OWN BROTHER!" Menma calmed down for a second and continued, "And then Kakashi wrote a note saying how he felt about me after all of that. And my other friends probably hate me too... I can't continue to live after all of those close to me died... especially Kurama."-Menma.

Hagaromo looked on and started to speak, "You are assuming their feelings too quickly, but why would you kill yourself over a close ones death?"-Hagaromo. Menma looked up at him surprised and Hagaromo continued, "Do you Believe you will be reunited with them in the afterlife? What about all of those still living that want to spend time with you? All of your friends still deeply care about you. What if you're death causes your loved ones to commit the same act you did, is that what you want?"-Hagoromo. Menma looked up and responded, "No! Of course not."-Menma. Hagaromo sighed, "You must realize that the taking of one's own life is the most selfish act one can do. What do you think your brother, parents, and girlfriend would think of you for doing such a horrible thing?"-Hagoromo. Menma looked down, "They would be disappointed and mad at me."-Menma. "That's right my child, but remember this young one, time heals all, and time is all the dead have, they intend to wait for you. They want you to live your life to the fullest, and do better than they did. Just remember... one should never choose the dead over the living. Besides, you said you admired Naruto, but did you really want to be like him? Naruto's ninja way was to never give up no matter what the circumstances! Have you forgotten that?"-Hagoromo.

Menma's eyes widened at those words. 'That's right, Naruto would be disgusted at what I've done... and those words, One must never choose the dead over the living... That's what Gaara and Kakashi have been telling me.'-Menma. Menma stood up and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right... but what about all of my friends and Kakashi? And then there's all of the villagers... they still hate me."-Menma.

Hagaromo looked down at him and created a mirror for Menma to look through. "You're wrong about your friends, that split personality of yours has been lying to you. Look through this mirror, this is what your friends were doing while you were in the hospital.

Menma looked through the mirror and saw everyone surrounding his hospital bed crying. "All of your friends worried about you before Sasuke or Sakura or Hinata, they were all their by your side the entire day waiting to see if you would wake up. So no, they don't blame you."-Hagoromo. Menma smiled at the mirror and it changed again, "And look at the villagers, the council found secret records and released information about your parents after you died, so now they all regret what they've done. This probably wouldn't have worked if the gossip about that evil personality inside of you didn't spread."-Hagoromo. Menma actually had a legitimate smile on his face. "So, I guess I'm not alone after all."-Menma.

Hagoromo smiled at him and continued, "Great, you're back to your usual self again for the most part, now for business. You see you may have read a lot about me but you probably don't know about the cycle of the reincarnation of Indra and Ashura."-Hagoromo. Menma looked at him confused. "You see, in the beginning the gods came across our realm and decided they wanted to interfere, so they created the Otsutsukis and sent Kaguya to the planet. The creation of these superpowered beings caused a paradox on our planet though. Kaguya had a 2 children with a human and I was one of them, the planet was able to adapt to people receiving chakra from my mother Kaguya but then everything was ruined. Kaguya went crazy and absorbed the chakra fruit tree and turned into the ten tails. Me and my brother were able to stop her but her destruction forever changed the terrain of the world. We separated the ten tails into 9 different tailed beast and sealed her inside of the moon. The 9 tails is one that you are familiar with. Next what happened was I had 2 children, Indra and Ashura. Ashura inherited my body and chakra, and Indra received my talent and eyes. I wanted a successor so I sent them away on a mission and when they came back I choose Ashura sense he had a pure heart. Indra was furious I didn't pick him so he fought Ashura and lost to him. When they both died their spirits kept on reincarnating into different people, the last one was Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. Do you know who the current ones are?"-Hagoromo.

Menma shook his head and Hagaromo answered, "Ashura was reincarnated as Naruto and Sasuke was reincarnated as Indra."-Hagoromo. Menma stood there in complete shock and fell onto his knees. "But because of the Gods the cycle has been ruined. One of them came to this world and whispered into the ear of Orochimaru about you having eyes that would give him immortality."-Hagoromo. Menma started speaking weakly, "So it's all my fault."-Menma.

Hagaromo looked at him and frowned, "You need to stop blaming yourself for everything. Some things are just outside of your control. When you were a baby a wounded man came to this world and gave you his eyes, he planned on you fulfilling something with those eyes... So don't hate yourself for having those eyes, you have been given a bigger mission to complete."-Hagoromo. Menma looked down and felt a little solemn, "But why do I have to be the one to do this?"-Menma. Hagaromo stopped floating and approached him, "Because that man saw something special in you, something more powerful than Indra and Ashura combined."-Hagoromo.

Menma looked up at him and had a half smile, "But how am I gonna fulfill that duty now that I'm dead?"-Menma. Hagaromo started molding all of his chakra into his hands, "I was supposed to give this power to Naruto and Sasuke just in case the time came, but now since their gone I'm gonna give you all of my power. Your gonna need it if you're gonna defeat the Gods."-Hagaromo stated holding out his hands, one had a sun on it and the other had a moon.

Menma marvelled at the power and Hagaromo continued, "With this chakra you'll be more powerful than almost anyone that's been alive. Your reserves will be so large you can fight months on end! Accept this power young Menma!!!"-Hagoromo.

Menma stood up and grabbed both of his hands and felt the power surge through him, all of the veins in his body started glowing and his skin turned into gold. After a few seconds his skin returned to normal and his veins stopped glowing, he held a staff in his hand, and he wore a white Sage cloak like Hagaromo had.

"Such power!"-Menma. Hagaromo manifested a mirror and held it up to Menma's face. Menma looked at himself with surprise, his left hand had a sun on it and his right had a moon on it. Also both of his eyes turned purple with tomoe in them. But then his eyes turned red and looked like indescribable.(Its that one fan made sharingan that has them all overlapping)

And then they turned back to his normal eyes. "What's up with that?"-Menma.

"Well first of all, the purple eyes you just had were the rinnegan, they grant you around 10 different abilities, and the red ones were the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. You have both because their both part of the same evolutionary line. If I was to give Sasuke my power he would have just received the rinnegan, but your not a Uchiha so you received both."-Hagoromo.

Menma looked at him in confusion. Hagaromo sighed and started explaining, "Ok, I'll skip the rinnegan powers, and I'll skip the basic sharingan ones because I'm sure you already know them, I'll just tell you the Mangeyko ones. Clears throat* Because of all of the constant suffering you've been going through in life, your eternal Mangekyo Sharingan has a number of abilities. Your first ability you have is because when you were a child and you were abused you wanted people to know the truth about who you really are, but they wouldn't listen. So the first ability is Tsukuyomi, a powerful genjutsu that will make people experience what you want them too."-Hagoromo.

"The next ability you have is because while you were being tortured and the 2 girls were put in front of you, you couldn't make a choice and just wanted him to stop. So your next ability is Kotoamatsukami, this is the ultimate genjutsu, it will allow you to make people do anything you wish them to. It's so powerful that they never knew that they were under control, they would think they made the decision."-Hagaromo.

"The next ability you have is because of your eventual hate and disdain for the villagers and Orochimaru and wishes to see them disappear. So your next ability is Amaturasu, the ability to conjure black Inextinguishable flames that will burn everything you see."-Hagoromo.

"The next ability you have is because you killed yourself, you consider yourself weak because you couldn't save Naruto, so you rejected the idea of continuing to live on and escaped this reality. The abilities name is Kamui, this ability will allow you to teleport you or other people/objects into and out of your own pocket dimension instantly. You'll also be able to teleport parts of your body into the dimension to do things like walk through walls or avoid attacks."-Hagoromo.

Menma started thinking about all the possibilities that this can give him and asked happily, "So are you gonna teach me how to use them?"-Menma.

"No."-Hagoromo.

Menma stood there for a second then he was confused, "Why?!"-Menma. "Well I never used any of these abilities, I only know about them from looking at the world. Besides, we don't have any time to do that, your people need your help. So you're gonna have to go back to the real world now."-Hagoromo.

Menma looked at him confused, "The world? What's going on?"-Menma. "Well a lot of things, first of all Kakashi wasn't the one that wrote that letter, he also retired as a ninja since he couldn't handle the sadness, Tsunade started drinking twice as much, Gaara locked himself away in fear that he would turn evil again since he had lost his last friend, and the Hidden Mist village heard about the 9 tails jinchurikis death, so they are currently attacking the village and fighting all of your friends and other ninja in the graveyard."-Hagaromo.

Menma's eyes widened at the information, "Well send me back now then!"-Menma. Hagaromo raised a hand and Menmas body started to become transparent. "You will learn how to use these abilities soon young Menma! Those abilities will become necessary for you to defeat enemies yet to come and all of the Gods!"-Hagaromo.

Menma simply gave him a thumbs up and spoke with courage, "With this power I'll be able to form my own dream and protect all of my friends! I'll bear their pain and get rid of all of the hatred in this world! Ya Know!"-Menma.

The Real World

The 3 tails was causing a lot of trouble for them, there were only 300 Mist Ninja left now but all of the rookies were too tired to continue fighting. And the adults couldn't be too offensive because they needed to protect the kids. Some of the adults have been injured a few times and they were beginning to get pressured into a circle position. Kakashi wasn't really struggling but he was more worried about the kids than assaulting the mist ninja too much.

It was midnight now and the moon aligned on top of the graveyard. All of a sudden weapons, gravel, and dirt started rising from the ground. The moon started to become brighter and a beam of light shot down on Menma's grave.

Everyone stopped their fighting and looked in the direction of the light to see a man rising out of the grave.

The light settled and everyone could see Menma standing there. His hair was snow white, his build was ripped. His right eye was his ultimate Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and his left eye was the Rinnegan with Tomoe. He wore the sage of the 6 paths cloak and had 9 floating purple orbs behind him. He raised his right hand and one of the balls formed into a sword in his hand. The sword was the same one he fantasized about on the 4ths head that one time.

All of the Leaf ninja smiled at the familiar face and his closest friends had some tears of joy. "Menma! You're alive!"-Kakashi.

Menma smiled at his adoptive father and looked back at the enemy with a deathly stare that demanded respect, "Mist ninja, return to your village now or be killed."-Menma.

The mist ninja stood there strong though and Yagura yelled, "So, it turns out your still alive! Who do you think you are threatening the blood Mist?!? Since you've come back to life, I'll just have to kill you myself!"-Yagura.

The 3 tails disappeared and Yagura jumped at Menma with his staff in his hand. Menma simply sighed but then a subtle grin grew on his face and he whispered to himself, "I was hoping you would say that."Menma. Menma brought up his sword in front of him and poured some chakra into it. The sword instantly extended at a blinding speed and stabbed right through Yagura.

Menma grew a smile and started alternating the chakra inside of it to do something else. Yagura's body looked like it started melting and his body formed around the sword before disappearing. Menma receded the sword back and let it disappear with a satisfied breath. 'Damn, the 3 tails has a lot of powerful chakra! And now its mine!'-Menma.

Menma took a deep breath and raised his left hand into the sky and he grabbed a hold of the moon. Menma looked down on all of the remaining Mist ninja with a fear instilling look and spoke with authority this time, "This is your last chance, leave now or else I will bring the moon down on all of you. You will return to your village and disband the Blood Mist and become a peaceful nation, if you don't I will come for you."-Menma.

Most of the ninja knew about the sage of the 6 paths and knew how he created the moon, and Menma had a striking resemblance to him. So all of Mist ninja started running.

Once they were gone Menma dropped his hand to his side and smiled at all of his friends as his eyes returned back to normal. 'How did I do all of that? Must of been the adrenaline.' "It's good to be back."-Menma.

Then all of a sudden Menma fell over unconscious. The adrenaline wore off and Menma's body was exhausted after coming back to life and using so much chakra so soon.

Everyone ran up to him and Tsunade smiled, "It's just chakra exhaustion. He'll wake up tomorrow."-Tsunade.

Kakashi picked up his body and had tears in his eyes, "I don't know how he's alive, but I'm just glad he is."-Kakashi.

Konoha Hospital 1 Day Later

Menma woke up and found himself in a familiar place. He sat up and thought, 'I've been to this place a lot lately.'-Menma.

Menma's vision adjusted to the brightness and he saw all of the rookies, Kakashi, and Tsunade.

"He's awake!"-Kiba. Tsunade walked over to him and punched him in the face.

Then she hugged him with some tears, "Don't ever kill yourself again! You'll always have people who care for you!"-Tsunade. Menma recovered from the punch and hugged her back.

"Sorry, but I've had a change in heart. The split personality in me convinced me that all of you hated me. He used it as a way to weaken my will and try to take over my body."-Menma. They now had a new look of confusion on their faces, "Split personality of you? Sense when did you have one of those?"-Tsunade.

Menma started thinking of a possibility, "I'm not really sure, I think I developed him while I used to get abused while I was really young."-Menma.

"Well what's he like?"-Kiba. Menma frowned, "You would all think less of me if I told you."-Menma.

Kakashi grabbed his hand and told him in a firm voice, "Menma, no matter what you say we will NEVER think less of you."-Kakashi. Menma smiled at him and told them, "He likes to refer to himself as Menma just like me. Anyways he is definitely the most sadistic person I have ever met, even more than Orochimaru."-Menma.

He heard some gasp in response, "Well, he claims that his only purpose for existing is to torture and kill everyone else that exist. Killing makes him horny too, sick bastard. And he doesn't discriminate between friends and enemies either... he's the one who killed Sasuke... the biggest reason I killed myself was the loneliness, but another reason was because I was afraid that he would take control of my body again."-Menma.

The room went silent for a minute. 'It seems like even though he killed himself he did it out of a sense of selflessness.'-Shikamaru. Neji smirked, 'Menma truly does put everyone else before him.'-Neji.

"So do you think he's still around?"-Shino. Menma thought for a second, "Well, I wasn't born with a red eye, when I noticed one of my eyes changed from blue to red, I thought it was because of the kyuubi, but it must have really been this dark Menma. Is one of my eyes still red?"-Menma.

They all have him a reluctant nod, "Damn, well the way you can tell if he's controlling me is if both the pupil and iris become red and the sclera becomes black in both eyes."-Menma.

"So when do you think he will make himself come out again?"-Tenten. "Well I highly doubt he will, he only came out when my will power was at its lowest. But when he did come out I think I found out that he doesn't completely hate everyone. While he was using my body to escape he came across a room with dozens of enemies in it. He killed everyone in the room, but when he saw the person that... violated, Temari... he definitely made him regret it."-Menma.

Shikamaru thought for a second and said, "So even though

"Soo, moving on to something more positive how exactly did you come back to life? And what was up with your eyes and clothes, and basically everything about you?"-Shikamaru.

Menma sighed and said, "Get comfortable, this is gonna be a long story."-Menma.

You just had everything explained to you in 2000 words so I'll skip the explaining.

Menma finished and everyone looked surprised, "So apparently Naruto was part of some kind of reincarnation, but because of Gods from another realm interfered with the world so much that cycle is ruined, and you were given the mission to kill these Gods?"-Kakashi.

"Basically."-Menma. Everyone sat back and took it surprisingly well. "Well with everything that's been happening it doesn't really seem that outlandish."-Ino. "Besides, with those abilities you probably can kill Gods as long as you train enough."-Neji.

Menma made a nervous laugh in response, "Yeah... about that. I don't actually know how to use any of my abilities, what happened yesterday was just adrenaline and luck."-Menma.

Everyone fell out of their chairs in response, "What do you mean?! How are you gonna face Gods if you don't know how to do anything?"-Tsunade.

"Well maybe I can do something like practice with shadow clones... "-Menma.

"Well you should start as soon as possible."-Kakashi. Menma nodded and stood up out of his bed and almost fell but he grabbed the bed. "My legs aren't broken again are they?"-Menma.

Tsunade laughed at him and said, "No. You heal fast but you still haven't fully recovered so your gonna need to use a crutch."-Tsunade.

Menma looked down and grabbed the crutch before walking to the door. "Where are you going?"-Kakashi. Menma looked back and said, "I can't go to the sand village in this state, so I'm gonna start practicing with my eyes a little so I can get there another way... Gaara is suffering right now, i can't leave him like that."-Menma. Everyone had a mutual smirk on his face, that was a very Menma kind of thing of him.

"Well, you have my permission, but bring Neji with you."-Tsunade. Menma called out to Neji and he they went to the training field.

Oh the way there a lot of villagers noticed him and stopped what they were doing. 'Sigh* Here we go.'-Menma.

But nothing bad happened, they smiled and started praising him, apparently he was a little bit of a hero now. A kid even walked up to him and gave him a gift. Menma thanked him and asked Neji with confusion, "Are you sure we're still in the Leaf? Everyone is unusually nice."-Menma.

"Well it's a slow process but people are starting to like you after finding out the truth about you, also since you saved us from the Mist village."-Neji.

Menma understood and simply said, "Well, it feels nice to be liked. Too bad Naruto couldn't get the same treatment."-Menma. Neji nodded in agreement and they continued on to the training ground.

Once they arrived Menma started off by summoning 5,000 clones and 1 wood clone that ran into the forest. Neji looked around himself in shock, "How can you summon so many?"-Neji.

"Well, the sage gave me his power, I guess he must of had a lot of chakra. He said I could summon 10,000 shadow clones but I haven't fully recovered so I'm not gonna try something like that."-Menma.

Menma looked on to his clones and they already knew what to do. Menma was trying to find out a way that he could travel so he decided to focus on his Kamui and his Rinnegan to explore its abilities. He split it 2,500 each and the training begun.

3 Hours Later

Neji was leaning against a tree sleeping, but the Menma woke him up. "Huh what? What happened?"-Neji.

"I think I've gotten the hang of it! I still haven't figured out the Rinnegan but I learned how to use Kamui! Let me show a demonstration!"-Menma.

Neji stood up instantly and played attention to the 2 clones in front of him. One had normal eyes and the other had the EMS eyes. The normal one prepared a rasengan and charged at him, but he passed right through him. The EMS Menma turned around and grabbed the other Menma and made him disappear in a weird vortex looking ripple.

"Its like I said, the Kamui ability sends parts of me and other stuff to a pocket dimension. And I just learned that it's a special kind of space/time jutsu that let's me teleport anywhere!"-Menma.

Neji was shocked by the display and thought, 'Damn, if he can learn such powerful abilities in a matter of hours, then he might just be too powerful.'-Neji.

Menma then put on a serious face, "Ok, since I know how to use it, I'm gonna go to Gaara now. Do you still want to come?"-Menma. "Well I was ordered too so of course. Besides I gotta make sure no one tries to capture you again."-Neji.

It was decided then, Menma put his hand on Neji's shoulder and they both teleported away.

Gaara's Sand Prison

Gaara sat still in his prison and was thinking to himself. It's been 2 days now and the isolation was becoming torture. Gaara looked up at where there used to be an entrance. 'Once again I'm alone... maybe it's a curse, when I got close to them they both suffered horrible fates. And now the 2 people that turned me to the side of good are gone. There's nothing stopping me from wanting to kill again. But as long as I'm here I won't go crazy or hurt others.'-Gaara.

Gaara looked up though as he saw movement and the sand began to separate. Gaara had to close his eyes because of the light coming from the hole, he saw the silhouette of a man in the light and it held out its hand towards him.

Gaara felt a strange tug on his body and it stood up on it's own. Gaara couldn't help but think that the person was familiar. When he grabbed the person's hand though he instantly knew who it was.

When he was lifted all the way out of the prison he had a smile on his face after looking at the familiar man.

Gaara didn't know what to say but before he could come up with anything Menma hugged him and he hugged back.

Gaara finally found his voice and asked, "But I got a letter that you died."-Gaara. "Well I was dead. But I've come back after I found out so many of my friends were suffering."-Menma.

Gaara tightened the hug with tears and his eyes, "Please, don't die again."-Gaara. Menma tightened the hug and answered, "Of course not."-Menma.

Neji was standing a few meters away from them and thought, 'No homo right?'-Neji.

They released the hug and Menma said, "Let's go back to your village Lord Kazekage! I'll stay for the day if you want."-Menma.

Gaara wiped away his tears and responded with, "You don't need to call me Kazekage. But you can walk me back to my mansion. Besides, I think I need to get caught up on current events."-Gaara.

They both started walking back to Suna and Menma responded with, "Well, when I came back to life my village was in the middle of an attack by the Mist."-Menma.

Gaara looked at him with a surprised look, "You were attacked?!? What happened?"-Gaara. Menma laughed a little and said, "Well I don't know how I did it, it must have been an adrenaline rush but I killed the corrupt Mizukage and warned them about what would happen if they didn't disband the Blood Mist."-Menma.

Gaara looked even more surprised now, "How do you kill a Kage with just an adrenaline rush?"-Gaara. Menma laughed nervously, "Well it wasn't pure adrenaline, you see when I was dead the reason I came back to life was because I met the Sage of the 6 Paths. Basically what happened was he gave me a history lesson about the beginning of all ninja and he gave me some pretty great Doujutsus!"-Menma.

Menma had the same expression on his face for a few seconds before Gaara said, "Oook, what are the Doujutsus?"-Gaara. Menma put his hands behind his head and said, "I'm glad you asked! He gave me a special Rinnegan and an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!"-Menma stated proudly.

Gaara looked at him with a bland look, "I barely know anything about the normal Sharingan, do you think I know anything about either of those?"-Gaara.

Menma did a deadpan and Neji spoke up, "Even if he did tell you he doesn't know how to use any of them besides his EMS ability Kamui."-Neji.

Gaara was starting to get interested again and asked, "So how does the Kamui work?"-Gaara.

"Well, what it does is give me access to a pocket dimension. And some ways I can use it is I can teleport myself or other people or even objects to the dimension or anywhere on the planet. Also I can make myself intangible by teleporting parts of my body away, like if someone tried to punch me in the face, it would go right through it. I didn't get enough time to practice but I think I have to practice on my concentration or else I can only use it a few times."-Menma.

Gaara had an impressive look on his face and said, "That's quite a formidable ability. But don't be a fool while using it, if you aren't concentrating you could be hit with a critical strike."-Gaara.

They reached the village walls and Gaara greeted the guards. They were shocked to see him return so suddenly and before they could say anything they walked past him.

"You know, the last time I was here I didn't really get to see anything besides the mansion because of that mission we had."-Menma.

Gaara was silent as they walked and Menma realized what he said. It was still too soon.

They kept on walking until they reached the Kazekage Mansion and Gaara opened the door to his office.

A girl was sitting in his chair sleeping and Gaara walked over to her. He flicked her in the head and she woke up, "Ha what?!? Ga-GAARA!!!"-Matsuri yelled as she pounced on him.

She had a comical amount of tears in her eyes and was saying, "GAARA! GAARA, DON'T RUN AWAY AGAIN!"-Marsuri. Gaara pushed her off of him and he responded with, "Yes Matsuri, I promise this won't happen again. Now, have you met my friends Menma and Neji?"-Gaara.

Matsuri looked over at them and said, "Who's that old man?"-Matsuri asked pointing at Menma.

Menma jumped and shock and retaliated, "Huh?!? Who are you calling old you brat?!?! Just because my hairs white doesn't mean I'm old!"-Menma.

"Only old people say brat!"-Matsuri. Menma felt defeated but furious. "Why you little"-"It's not that serious Menma."-Neji said holding Menma back from running at her as she stuck out her tongue at him.

Gaara started to get annoyed and spoke up, "Enough! Matsuri, apologize to my friend, hes only 15."-Gaara.

Matsuri pouted and looked over at Mea before apologizing, "I'm sorry."

Menma nodded at her and diverted his attention to Gaara, "So sense this problem has been taken care of, I'm gonna go back home now."-Menma.

Gaara walked up to him and held out his hand for a hand shake. Menma accepted it and brought Gaara into a hug, Gaara hugged back and said, "This will be the official alliance between the Leaf and Sand."-Gaara.

Menma released him and backed up, he was about to put his hand on Neji's shoulder but Gaara asked, "Wait! So now that your walking again what do you plan to do?"-Gaara.

Menma thought for a second before he said, "The Sage of 6 Paths gave me a mission to kill the God that did this to me. I intend to accomplish that mission, but right now I'm too weak to do that, so I'm gonna start training my skill and eyes abilities for the next couple of couple of years. Then once I've mastered the rinnegan, the EMS, and the golden eyes, I will go to the realm of this God and destroy him... although this isn't just business, if it weren't for this God then people would never have chakra, and both my brother and all of my friends would still be alive. So what I'm gonna do is teach all the Gods out there a lesson in what happens when you mess with the natural cycle of life."-Menma.

Gaara nodded at him and Menma teleported away with Neji.

Once they got back to the village he thought to himself, 'Ever since I've become a ninja I've always felt like someone was watching me from somewhere I couldn't go. I think this God is the one watching me, if I'm gonna face him I'm gonna have to do something that he won't notice. The wood clone will be useful but I should try to come up with a back up plan.'-Menma.

Menma smiled at the smirk and made his way to the Hokage's office to tell her the news.

Once Menma got there he entered the room and saw Jiraiya there with Tsunade.

"Menma, right on time. Jiraiya decided to come by and I've decided I'm gonna give you a A-Rank mission."-Tsunade. Menma became interested and signaled her to continue, "I'm gonna send you off with Jiraiya to train for 3 years. If you're gonna do what you say you will you're gonna need to train harder than you ever have before."-Tsunade.

Menma's jaw dropped and he asked, "3 years?!? What if the village gets attacked?!"-Menma. Tsunade sighed and said, "You know you're not the only one capable of protecting the village, besides it's obvious the Mist won't attack, and it's very unlikely that the Cloud and stone would attack out of nowhere. And besides, Neji told us about your newly formed alliance with the Sand."-Tsunade stated with a smirk.

Menma looked confused and asked, "How did Neji tell you what happened? We just got back."-Menma. "Well he told us that when you got back you just zoned out and he came here to tell us what happened."-Tsunade.

Menma remembered that he was thinking about the wood clone the entire time and laughed nervously. "Anyways, you can leave today. I've already told all your friends, they were reluctant that you're leaving so soon sense you just came back but they eventually accepted it."-Tsunade.

Menma thought for a second then thought that this was necessary. Jiraiya told him to follow behind him and they started walking towards the door.

But before they could leave Kakashi showed up in the door, "Kakashi?! What are you doing here?"-Menma.

Kakashi smiled at him and said, "How could I not say goodbye to my son?"-Kakashi. Menma smiled up at him and they both embraced into a hug. "When you come back, you better be able to beat me."-Kakashi.

Menma chuckled and said, "Well, I'm not sure about that, you're one of the strongest ninjas I know."-Menma. Kakashi patted his head and said, "Oh Menma, you're already much more powerful than you think."-Kakashi.

Menma smiled at the complement and He started leaving. Menma waved at Kakashi before disappearing down the hall.

So that's the end of Chapter 8, next chapter will be a time skip. Atleast I think it will be, I'm not sure whether I should write down parts of his training or not. And if I don't then I'll go straight to the Naruto Shippuden timeline


	9. A New Friend

So far a week has passed into Menma's training and the only thing he learned was how addicted Jiraiya was to his "research". Menma was sitting in the hot springs next to Jiraiya who was peeking through the cracks behind him.

"Hey Jiraiya. Jiraiya. JIRAIYA!"-Menma. Menma looked over at Jiraiya who was still looking through the crack in the wall. 'Oh so your spaces out? I got something for you.' Menma took in a deep breath and yelled loud enough for the other side to hear him, "HEY OLD MAN STOP SPYING ON THOSE WOMEN!"-Menma.

He heard screaming on the other side and they all got out. Jiraiya glared at him and asked, "What was that for?"-Jiraiya.

Menma glared back and said, "Cause I've been with you a week now and all I've learned is how much of a pervy sage you are!!"-Menma.

Jiraiya sighed and said, "You don't understand the importance of these lessons, if you researched with me you would understand the significance of this."-Jiraiya. Menma backed up, "WHAT? NO WAY!!"-Menma.

"Oh come on, you lived with Kakashi for years now, you must of picked up one of his hobbies."-Jiraiya. Menma looked down for a second, "Well... I did sneak into his room and take one of books once."-Menma.

Jiraiya smiled, "Well let's make a deal then, I only need a little bit of research left for my next book, so how about you help me with my research and I'll train you for the rest of our trip."-Jiraiya. Menma sighed and said, "Ok, well what do you have in mind?"-Menma. Jiraiya had a perverted smile and said, "How about you use your sexy jutsu and hang out in the girls side of the hot springs?"-Jiraiya.

Menma jumped out of the hot springs in surprise and yelled, "WHAT??! THATS WAY TOO MUCH!"-Menma. "No research no training."-Jiraiya.

Menma sighed, 'I guess I don't have much of a choice.'-Menma. Menma put up 2 hand signs and transformed into a busty girl with curves in all the right places and good proportions. She had chin length white hair just like Menma, and covered herself with an embarrassed face as Jiraiya stared at her. Her eyes also turned purple.

Jiraiya had an uncontrollable nosebleed. "Hey...I'm still only 15 ya know."-Meneko said in a shy voice. Jiraiya wiped his nose and said, "This is even better than I could have imagined! We'll start the research tomorrow!"-Jiraiya.

Meneko smiled and thought, 'As long as this helps Menma.'-Meneko. Meneko clapped her hands together and transformed back into Menma. He rubbed his head and thought, 'It feels like I'm not in control when I transform into that form.'-Menma.

The Next Day

Menma and Jiraiya stood in front of the door to the female side of the place and Menma rehearsed, "So you want me to convince the girls to do anything that involves... bouncing?"-Menma. Jiraiya nodded, "That's right!"-Jiraiya.

Menma shook his head in disappointment, "What does this have to do with your book?"-Menma. "Well once I'm done you can read it."-Jiraiya. Menma shook his head, "I'd rather not, the only reason I read Kakashi's book was out of boredom and curiosity."-Menma.

Menma put up the hand signs and transformed into Meneko. She walked into the women's side and Jiraiya walked over to the peeping hole on his side.

Jiraiya watched on as Meneko was talking to all the other girls. After a couple of minutes Jiraiya was starting to get bored sense they were just sitting there but they all eventually stood up.

Meneko started splashing water on one of them. The other playfully asked what are they doing and splashed back. But Meneko dodged it and the water hit the girl behind her. The girl was upset since her hair got wet and splashed a lot of water on all of them. Eventually they all started splashing water on each other back and forth and Jiraiya was loving it as his nose started bleeding.

After awhile they all stopped splashing water and they were all tired. Meneko looked up at the wall and saw Jiraiya staring directly at her chest. Meneko made a eek sound in embarrassment and transformed back into Menma.

Menma just sat there for a second and observed his surroundings before realizing he was still in the women's side. He looked to both his sides and saw all the women looking directly at him. Menma quickly put up both his hands in defense and started rambling, but none of the girls were having it and they all cracked their knuckles.

They all started walking towards him and Menma was laughing nervously. He quickly tried to make a bolt for it and ran for the exit but the girls grabbed him and started beating him.

Jiraiya backed away from the peep hole and started walking out, "All the research I need for my next book is complete!"-Jiraiya. Jiraiya walked into the locker room and saw Menma get thrown through the door.

All the girls walked out and grabbed all their clothes before leaving. Jiraiya checked on Menma and he was still conscious, "I am NEVER doing that AGAIN! I'm not trying to be a PERVERT like YOU!"-Menma.

Jiraiya patted him on the back and told him, "Your training starts tomorrow."-Jiraiya.

The Next Day

Menma stood in a field with his usual sage cloak and was waiting for Jiraiya to tell him what to do. "Aren't you ever gonna wear anything besides your sage garb?"-Jiraiya. "Well it never gets dirty so what's the point?"-Menma.

Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ok, well the first thing we're gonna do is practice your jutsu synchronization with the toads."-Jiraiya. Jiraiya bit his thumb and summoned a toad.

Menma backed up when he saw what toad it was, "No way, I'm not working with that toad!"-Menma.

Out of the smoke appeared Gamariki with his lips as big as ever. "Really Jiraiya? This kid?"-Gamariki.

"Look closely Menma, using wind or lightning would go best with his water."-Jiraiya. Jiraiya placed his hand on the toad and they both channeled chakra. The toad spit out water at a tree and it turned into little cubes. "Now if you practice synchronization with each other long enough you'll be able to do that too."-Jiraiya.

Menma sighed, "Shouldn't I be more focused on learning how to control my eyes abilities?"-Menma.

"Well that will be useful, but you won't always be able to rely on your eyes in a fight."-Jiraiya.

Menma shrugged his shoulders and Jiraiya continued, "Okay, start dancing in unison."-Jiraiya. Menma looked at him confused, "You heard me, dance."-Jiraiya.

Menma sighed and they both started dancing. After a little while Menma started spacing out, 'This is boring, I could be doing something like learning how to use Amaterasu, or training with Kamui right now.'-Menma.

Menma accidentally slapped Gamariki in the face. They both stopped dancing and Gamariki slapped him with his tongue. Menma got up with an annoyed expression and tackled Gamariki. They started rolling until they both fell off the cliff and landed in the hot springs.

Jiraiya sighed and dispelled Gamariki before summoning 2 toads Menma is more friendly with. Both Gamakichi and Gamatatsu.

"What are we here for?"-Gamakichi. "Just wait a second."-Jiraiya. They all heard screaming down the hill, "YOU AGAIN?!?"-Lady. The 3 of them saw Menma fly back up to the top of the hill.

Before Menma could land on the ground he manifested one of the truth seeking orbs and landed on it. Menma looked up in surprise, "See? You already learned something."-Jiraiya.

The Next Day

Menma stood in front of Gamakichi and held his hand on his back. "Now, GO!"-Jiraiya.

They both started channeling chakra and Gamakichi spit out a speeding bullet of water with electricity around it. The attack cut the trees into cubes and charred the wood.

"It seems you mastered it, well sense you haven't complained I guess we can start your sharingan training now."-Jiraiya.

Both the toads dispelled and Menma pumped his fist and created 5,000 clones. "So what should we do?"-Menma.

"Well, I'm not sure, I'm not a Uchiha and it seems it would be better for you to figure this out yourself. But if you need advice I'll be here."-Jiraiya.

Menma was disappointed but started training. The first thing he decided to train with was Kotoamatsukami.

1 Hour Later

Menma poured more chakra into his eyes and nothing happened. "What am I doing wrong? I'm making eye contact and I know what I want him to do but nothing is happening."-Menma.

"Well are there any Sharingan abilities you already know how to use?"-Jiraiya. "I know how to use Kamui. I learned how to fully use it in 3 hours."-Menma. "Well how does it work?"-Jiraiya. "Well basically it let's me teleport anywhere in the world I want to and I can teleport parts of my body and other people/objects into a pocket dimension."-Menma.

Jiraiya nodded his head and said, "Well the thing about Uchihas and their Sharingan is that they are the clan with the biggest hearts. And the stronger their emotions the stronger their Sharingan. What was your motivation for learning Kamui?"-Jiraiya. "Well I knew I wasn't well enough to run there so I learned how to use it with the intention of saving Gaara from his self isolation."-Menma.

"Well maybe the reason you were able to learn it so quickly was because you had a strong emotional motivation to save your friend. If you want to learn how to use these abilities you must put an inspiration behind it."-Jiraiya.

Menma nodded and said, "So it seems you aren't entirely a pervert."-Menma. Before Jiraiya could say anything Menma turned back to his training. Menma closed his eyes and started thinking of a motivation, he started thinking about the villagers and all the Mist ninja. How he wanted his voice to be heard by all the villagers to tell them what he is, and how at the graveyard he was able to make everyone listen to him. He wanted that replicate that sense of authority.

Menma opened his eyes and looked at the clone in front of him. The clone tensed up and started running. It ran into a tree and poofed away. Jiraiya clapped and said, "See? Now you should practice with that for a little while so you don't have to put so much effort into it."-Jiraiya.

Menma turned around and tried to use it again but nothing happened. He tried a few more times and still nothing happened. Menma turned to his clones and they tried it, it worked. Menma was confused so he had them use it again, except now they couldn't use it.

Menma dispelled all of the clones and absorbed all of the experience. "It seems like I can only use this once every month. It seems with the sharingan you just know things somehow."-Menma. Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders, "Well for such a powerful ability I guess it makes sense."-Jiraiya.

Jiraiya jumped off of the tree and told him, "Let's take a break for a little while. We have a few years so there's no rush."-Jiraiya. Menma started following behind him and they started walking towards a nearby Dango shop.

1 Year Later

Menma left early and was training with 20 other clones on how to use Tsukuyomi after he reduced the Kotoamatsukami time to a week. He continued on and was interrupted when he heard people walking by.

"Good morning!"-Menma. The 2 looked back at him and he saw them clearly now. They both wore black cloaks with red clouds on them. One was really tall, had blue skin, and a thick sword on his back. The other guy had black hair and steely looking eyes that were blood red.

The one with red eyes looked at him with surprise and Menma realized he still had his EMS active. "Oh sorry, I forgot to deactivate my eyes."-Menma.

The shorter one had a look of interest on his face and walked over to him.

"What are you doing out here?"-Itachi. "Well I'm just trying to figure out how to use my eyes abilities." After a couple seconds Menma paid closer attention to Itachi's eyes and saw he had the sharingan. "Hey you also have a sharingan! You think you can help me?"-Menma.

Itachi contemplated for a few seconds and decided to ask, "First I would like to know how you have a sharingan. You don't look like an Uchiha."-Itachi.

Menma quickly answered with a serious expression, "It was given to me, as a gift."-Menma. Itachi thought about the answer and was reminded of Kakashi. He also was given a sharingan as a gift.

Itachi accepted the answer and nodded at him. He said, "I guess we have time."-Itachi. "Itachi"-"We have time Kisame." Itachi turned back to Menma and stated, "My name is Itachi Uchiha, what is yours?"-Itachi. "My name is Menma Uzumaki." Menma didn't realize it at first but he eventually thought, 'Itachi? Isn't that Sasuke's brother?'-Menma.

Itachi asked, "You say a friend gave it to you, can you be more specific?"-Itachi. Menma cleared his throat and responded, "Well, you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, but an old man gave them to me."-Menma. "an old man just gave you them?"-Itachi. "Well, he didn't just give them to me, he gave them to me with the intent of me completing a mission he could not. It has to do with a God."-Menma.

Itachi was silent for a second but continued, "That's quite a story, but we can get back to that later. What are the Mangekyo abilities you need to learn?" The man asked.

'Damn, he doesn't even seem a little surprised by what I said.' "Well the 2 I need to learn are Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu."-Menma. Itachi showed the first sign of being surprised and thought, 'So he has the same abilities as me? He must have had a troubled past.' Itachi closed his eyes, "Well I guess you're in luck then."-Itachi. Itachi opened his eyes and put Menma in the Tsukuyomi world.

Menma looked around him and saw Itachi, "This is the world of Tsukuyomi. What do you know about Tsukuyomi?"-Itachi. "Well, the man told me that when I put people in here I can make them experience whatever I want them too."-Menma. "Well that's just the basic gist of it. More specifically when you put someone in this world you can control how long they experience something in this world and the real one. In this world you can make the time last from anywhere from a second to a lifetime. And in the real world you can make all of this time pass by in less than a attosecond."-Itachi.

Menma paled at the new information, "Wow, this really is powerful."-Menma. "Now, summon another shadow clone and try to use it on him."-Itachi.

Menma did what he was told and summoned the clone. He proceeded to do what he did earlier and channeled chakra into his eyes but nothing happened. "See? Nothing works."-Menma. "Well, when you're about to activate the genjutsu what are you thinking about?"-Itachi. "Well... I'm thinking about putting them in an illusion."-Menma.

Itachi looked down for a second and said, "Well since you didn't originally have a sharingan it makes sense that you don't already know how to use it... the reason you can use Tsukuyomi is because you have experienced a horrible phase in your life, and you had imagined a reality you would have rather lived in, you wanted to transform the world around you for better or for worse. Just think about that reality you wanted and give that clone all you've got. Once you've done it once it becomes second nature."-Itachi.

Menma did what he said and closed his eyes, he imagined how he wanted to live in a reality where Chakra never existed. Chakra was the deterrent that caused so many deaths in the world, including those close to him. He needed to end the current dark reality he lived in and he was gonna create a better one after he absorbs the God.

Menma opened his eyes and put the clone in front of him into the Tsukuyomi. After a second the clone fell onto its knees and it puffed away. Itachi made a nod of acknowledgment and spoke, "Good, now do it again on another clone, but this time just think about putting it into an illusion."-Itachi. Menma did what he said and the clone fell to its knees and dispelled again.

Menma gave him a thumbs up and Itachi said, "Alright, now let's work on Amaterasu."-Itachi. Menma nodded and created 30 clones in front of him. Menma closed his right eye and started channeling chakra into his eye. His eye started bleeding and a small black flame shot at one of the clones, but it was too slow so it side stepped it.

Menma wiped away the blood from his eye, "My eye bleeds, really?"-Menma. Itachi sighed and said, "Your Amaterasu is weak. When it comes to the sharingan your strength is based off of how powerful your emotions are."-Itachi. "Well at least it happened first try."-Menma.

"The Amaterasu is created for the exact opposite reason you have Tsukuyomi. Unlike Tsukuyomi where it came from your desire to create a new better reality, Amaterasu comes from the desire to destroy someone or something, or everything. It's a black flame that is conjured to burn something down forever. Tell me Menma, who do you hate the most?"-Itachi.

Menma had a serious face now and said, "Orochimaru and the God."-Menma. "How much do you hate them?"-Itachi. "Words can't explain my hate for them."-Menma. "Well then, imagine that all of those clones over there are Orochimaru, and focus your eye on them, and destroy them."-Itachi.

Menma did as he said and Menma looked at all of the clones. What he saw was Orochimaru smiling his sadistic grin at him, all the memories of all the deaths and suffering Orochimaru caused was poured into his eyes. And Menma let out all of his pent up anger. Menma yelled, "AMATERASU!!"-Menma. The flame traveled faster than lightning and was huge, it enveloped all of the clones and set half of the Tsukuyomi world aflame.

Itachi's eyes widened a little, "You must really hate him a lot."-Itachi. "Haha, you have no idea."-Menma. "Ya know Orochimaru used to be in the Akatsuki with me."-Itachi. "Is that so?"-Menma. "Yes, he eventually left after he lost interest in trying to have my eyes. He started coming after my brother Sasuke's eyes."-Itachi.

Menma almost gagged at the mention of his late teammate Sasuke. Itachi continued what he was saying, "You know what the Akatsuki is, don't you 9 tails jinchuriki?"-Itachi. Menma backed up, 'Shit, he knows who I am. I don't think I can do anything since I'm in his world though.'-Menma.

Menma became strapped into a chair and Itachi walked towards him. "You're right Menma, you can't escape this."-Itachi. Menma looked surprised, "Just so you know I can read your thoughts. But it seems you know what the Akatsuki is... although, I don't think you have the 9 tails anymore, or else you would have broke out of this already."-Itachi.

"So, tell me more about why you hate Orochimaru."-Itachi. Menma looked up at him and started talking, "Well, the first thing he did was kill the 3rd Hokage, he was like a grandfather to me. Then... he killed my brother Naruto." Itachi was surprised by this, "Then, he captured me and tortured me for 3 days, he thinks that I have special golden eyes that will let him gain immortality... the reason that I got captured and Naruto died is because Sasuke voluntarily left the village to go get stronger with Orochimaru. Then after Orochimaru realized that physical pain wasn't working he moved to emotional pain... first he captured my teammate and the Hyuga heir and killed them both... then he captured my girlfriend and had her raped and killed."-Menma. Itachi remained silent and felt more disdain towards Orochimaru, 'You really have stopped low this time.'-Itachi. "Then, that's when the 9 tails Kurama died from chakra exhaustion." A tear fell down Menma's face. "And after that, I lost all of my will to live, and my split personality took over. Although, this personality only wants to kill everything. Then on the 6th day this other me broke out of our imprisonment and started killing everything along the way."-Menma.

Menma wasn't sure if he should say the next part, but he thought Itachi wouldn't be that bothered by it, "Then, the split personality of me... found Sasuke, and killed him before leaving."-Menma.

Itachi stood there for a minute and didn't move at all. But he started moving and produced a sword into his hand and started walking towards Menma. "Wait! I had no control over my own body!"-Menma. Itachi kept on walking and raised his blade revealing a tear in his eye. He sliced down at Menma and cut him in half.

Menma felt the blade cut right through him and he opened his eyes after realizing he wasn't dead. He looked around and saw another him laying unconscious on the ground. Itachi made the blade disappear and spoke, "This is more of the power that Tsukuyomi possesses, the reality is so real that it can affect the real world if you're powerful enough... but ya know, I didn't actually hate my brother. The reason I killed my clan was because the other Uchihas were going to rise up and try to take over the village. I had a friend who was going to use Kotoamatsukami to convince the clan to forget about the coup d'etat but his eye was stolen by a man named Danzo. Danzo wanted the clan to be killed, he liked to say it was for the "betterment of the village", but that was a lie. The 3rd lacked the back bone to prevent what happened next, and Danzo had me kill my entire clan. Although, I accepted it on the one condition that my brother would live, I couldn't bare killing him. Then the 3rd sent me on a mission to be a spy in the Akatsuki... but sense Sasuke is dead I have no reason to stay."-Itachi.

"So what will you do now?"-Menma. "Well, the Akatsuki only needs to capture the 1 tails, 9 tails, and 8 tails. They plan to attack the Kazekage in 1 year. Then they will capture the 8 tails soon after that. After that they will wait for the 9 tails to manifest again and will capture it. I guess I will take down the Akatsuki myself sense the village won't help me."-Itachi.

Menma stood up and said, "No! I'll help you take them down! I can help, if you saw my memories then you know who gave me my power!"-Menma. Itachi stared at him and wiped away the tears in his eyes. He didn't need to look at to tell that he was willing to do whatever needed to be done. "Ok, well... I will talk to you again soon Menma. When you return to your village, I want you to capture Danzo."-Itachi.

Menma looked a little confused, "Capture him? But he's like, one step down from Hokage."-Menma. "Danzo is the reason for everything wrong in not just the village, but the entire ninja world. He's the reason the current Akatsuki exist, the group originally helped people but after Danzo teamed up with Hanzo that all changed sense Hanzo killed our leaders best friend. Then in our village after the 9 tails attack he blamed the Uchihas for it and had them moved to the edge of the village. That's what was one of the biggest reasons the Uchihas wanted a coup d'etat. Then, well I already told you he stole my friends eye which lead to me having to kill the clan. But there was one thing he didn't succeed in doing, he wasn't able to make Orochimaru the 4th Hokage."-Itachi.

Menma looked down and said, "Why didn't the 3rd ever banish him or have him executed then?"-Menma. Itachi sighed and said, "In his old age the man must have lacked the backbone to do so. Danzo even tried to assassinate him once with his secret organization ROOT. But after that failed Hiruzen didn't even punish him."-Itachi.

Menma pumped his fist and said, "You can count on me Itachi! I don't go back on my word!"-Menma.

Itachi was about to drop the genjutsu but Menma asked him one more thing, "So what am I supposed to do with my split personality now that you severed it from me?"-Menma. "Well, I'm not sure how you would kill it. But when you're alone release it from your physical body and try to do something like seal it away. Such a dangerous entity has no place in this world."-Itachi.

Menma nodded and Itachi nodded back and he dropped the genjutsu. Itachi pulled out a paper and wrote on it. He handed it to Menma and whispered in his ear, "This is Danzo's hideout, and the second address is where you'll take him to when you go back to your village next year. And one last thing, I think you have a 3rd personality."-Itachi.

Itachi and Kisame started walking away, "Isn't that the 9 tails Jinchuriki?"-Kisame. "Not anymore, the 9 tails died. So we'll have to wait a year or 2 for it to reform."-Itachi. "Still, are you sure we should just leave the kid here?"-Kisame. "He is of no threat."-Itachi.

They all heard footsteps approaching and Itachi and Kisame shunshined away. "Hey Menma, your out here early!"-Jiraiya. "Good morning Jiraiya! I think we should return to the village a year early."-Menma. "Huh? Why in the rush?"-Jiraiya.

"I learned how to use all of my EMS abilities. All I have to do now is train with them and learn how to use my truth seeking orbs."-Menma. "Well that was fast! How did you learn how to use Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu so fast?"-Jiraiya. "Hahaha, well let's just say a friend came along and helped."-Menma.

Jiraiya made a hn sound and sat on a tree to watch Menma train with his balls. While Menma was training he couldn't help but think, 'That's a lot of information to take in. Apparently this Danzo guy is a real ass, but Itachi sure isn't that good at showing emotion. He's probably waiting a year for us to take down the Akatsuki to mourn. Although from what I learned about him from talking to him he doesn't seem to be someone concerned with vengeance. He probably wants to kill Danzo out of a sense that it's necessary, I can understand that, like with Orochimaru such an evil person has no place in this world... at least, it was like that at first. But if Danzo favored Orochimaru enough to want him to become Hokage he probably knows where his hideouts are!'-Menma.

Menma held one of the balls in his hands and his hand started to feel numb. He knew that the Rinnegan let's you see chakra so he activated it and looked at his hand. It looked like the balls were absorbing his chakra. A lightbulb lit up in his head and he made all the balls form into a big shield barrier. 'That's new, I guess sense I mastered my sharingan it's easier to learn stuff now.'-Menma.

Menma held up one hand seal and shot a fireball at the shield. The fireball dissipated and the shield was unharmed. Menma shot a few more jutsus of different elements at it and none of them put a smudge in the shield.

Menma made all of the balls return behind his back except for one and decided to move on to something more complex.

He tried to form the ball into something simple like a sword and it worked. He tried to manipulate the sword to make it sharper than obsidian, "Alright, that's good. Now it can do more than just shock nullification and chakra absorption."-Menma. Menma started thinking back to what he did when he came back to life and came up with an idea.

He pointed the sword out straight in front of him and extended it at lightning speed straight through a tree. "Hmm, I'm gonna have to make that faster if I'm gonna be fighting anyone Anbu level and above."-Menma.

Before bringing the sword back to him Menma came up with another idea and made the sword bend into corners and hit multiple trees around it before bringing it back. The sword zigzagged a bit before returning to his hand and Menma put it back behind him. Menma used 3 of the balls to create a chair and Menma sat down.

"The truth seeking orbs are a lot easier to learn than the sharingan, maybe that's because it doesn't have anything to do with emotions."-Menma.

Jiraiya walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Let's call it a day."-Jiraiya.

8 Months Later

Menma stood in the field at midnight and was preparing himself. He had 4 months till he came back to the village and he was ready to finally imprison his split personality.

Menma took a deep breath and transported to the Kamui dimension. Menma looked around and saw a lot of gray blocks of different elevation. "This place is pretty bland."-Menma.

Menma kneeled down and placed his hands on the ground. Within a 500 meter radius everything began to shake and slowly connected to each other. Then Menma elevated certain blocks so that everything was leveled with each other.

Menma stood up and looked around him to see a flat landscape. Menma was satisfied and clapped his hands together. Everything started to shake aggressively and wood started rising from the ground to create a structure.

Menma stood up and looked up at what he created. It was a building that was 5 stories tall and 1000 meters long. It resembled a mental asylum and each room had chairs in them made out of steel.

Menma put up a hand sign and released Menma from his body. Menma looked at him with his deathly gaze and smile. Although if you looked at him closely he looked more patient then he did when they were in Orochimaru's hideout. "So, it's been awhile since I've talked to you... before I tell you what I intend to do, I do want you to know that I don't entirely despise you. If it weren't for you I wouldn't have gotten out of the hideout, and I wouldn't have realized that I should follow my own goals and become my own man. So I thank you for that... but, you used my body to kill a friend of mine, and you tried to take advantage of me in my darkest times for your own personal gain."-Menma. Menma clenched his fist and his teeth, "And I can NEVER forgive you for that!"-Menma. "My, that's very touching. Now what do you want?"-Menma.

Menma took a deep breath and said, "I know I can't kill you because your me, so I've come to make a deal with you so you can stay in this building."-Menma. Menma started laughing at him, "HAHAHAHA!! Now why would I want to stay in this boring gray dimension? My objective is to kill, did killing yourself make you forget?"-Menma.

Menma smiled and thought, 'Why do you always have to be such an ass?' "Well that's the part of the deal that benefits me, but the part that benefits you is that I specifically created this place for torture. What I'm gonna do is take the souls of the evil and I'll give them to you to have your fun with. I know that you like to savor the moment so that's why I'm giving you their souls, they'll never die."-Menma. Menma had a confused look and smiled a non sadistic smile, "My, that's quite considerate of you but what would I torture them with? I could use my hands and wood style but that would get quite boring pretty quickly."-Menma.

Menma manifested 2 truth seeking orbs in front of him and gave them to Menma, "Use these, they can be manipulated in anyway, they can be made as sharp as obsidian or as dull as wood, as strong as titanium or as weak as styrofoam."-Menma.

Menma stood there for a second and then took the balls. "Fine, I'll accept your offer. But don't slack off on bringing people here, there's a lot of room to fill up."-Menma.

They both shook hands and Menma teleported back to the real world. 'How am I supposed to learn how to use any of these Rinnegan abilities? I only know how to do the soul stealing one cause I got the fun idea from a book.'-Menma. Menma started walking off and jumped off the ground to fly back home. 'When did I learn to fly anyway? I feel like I knew how to fly my whole life when I first found out about this. Maybe the Sharingan helped me learn it instantly sense it's not a complicated thing. Man, the truth seeking orbs sure are useful.'-Menma.

Menma didn't notice yet but both of his eyes returned back to their natural color of blue.

For the remaining 4 months he had left he practiced his bonding and skills with the toads more before returning to the Hidden Leaf Village.

This chapter was hard to make in the beginning, I wasn't sure whether I should include the training or not, and once I did decide too, it was hard to come up with how his training would be written.

Also just to clarify Menma is not a pervert.


	10. Fulfilling A Promise

It's the afternoon and Menma had finished all of his training, he was spending the rest of the week in the hot springs. He decided to go by himself this time because he was disturbed by Jiraiya's habits.

"I wonder how everyone's doing without me. Hopefully when I go back next week we can all hangout like before."-Menma. Menma sat back and looked around him and something caught his eye. 'Wait, this isn't the hot spring I usually go to.'-Menma.

Before Menma could do anything about 6 girls walked into the hot springs and got comfortable. 'This is a unisex hot spring!'-Menma. Menma sunk into the water a little and got comfortable. He kept his eyes closed so it didn't look like he was staring.

After sitting for a few more minutes he started listening to their conversation. "Last night my brother told me he came across a big camp site. He says he saw women being escorted around."-Lady1. "Seriously!?! Shouldn't we go tell the police?"-Lady2. "Yeah! My sister went missing a couple weeks ago!"-Lady3.

"I don't think they can do much, he said that the men that were walking them around were missing nin!"-Lady1. Menma lifted himself up and decided to intervene, "Excuse me miss, where is the camp that your brother found?"-Menma.

"Oh, I don't think you will be able to do anything, these are some lethal ninja."-Lady1. "You underestimate me miss, I may not look like it." Menma flashed his EMS and rinnegan, "But I am quite a versatile ninja myself."-Menma.

The lady thought about it for a minute and decided to tell him, "just go under the bridge and follow the river, it'll be on the right."-Lady1.

Menma nodded at them and got out of the hot springs but the third lady called out to him, "Wait mister, please bring my sister back! She has blonde hair and 4 pigtails."-Lady3.

The description reminded Menma of his bn late girlfriend and he pumped his fist and said, "You can count on me miss, I'll have her back by tonight! Menma Uzumaki always keeps his word!"-Menma. Menma raced out of the hot springs and his clothes flew towards him.

Sunset

Menma felt his sandals splashing in the mud and thought, 'Well this is starting to become pretty shitty. I've been following this river for half an hour and it's starting to rain.'-Menma.

Menma decided to stop and walked up to a tree. 'I'm gonna try something new.'-Menma. Menma put his hands up to the tree and tried to sense everything in the are around him. His method of searching was feeling where all the tree roots were, and finding a place nearby where there was none. After a few seconds Menma felt something, "Gotcha! Man, wood style is useful!"-Menma.

Menma teleported to the place where he felt a lack of trees and overlooked the area. Their was around 8 different tents and they all had men chattering inside them. On the outside he saw around 30 different women in tattered clothes chained up to a pipeline. 'I guess they're supposed to sleep outside in the rain while they sleep in the tents.'-Menma. Menma studied all of them and found the one the lady told him about.

Menma's heart pained looking at her and the rest of them, 'She really does look like her.'-Menma.

Menma sunk into the ground and reappeared in front of all of the women. They all looked up at him and Menma put his finger to his mouth. Menma put his hands together and created around thirty truth seeking orbs. All of the balls flew towards the women and formed around them into warm clothes. Menma used his sage blade and cut all of the chains. "Wait here for a few minutes, I'll tell you when you can come out."-Menma. Menma formed a wooden house around them and walked out. (Sage blade will be the name of the sword he makes out of the truth seeking orbs. Unless you can come up with a better name.)

All of the commotion caught the attention of the men and they all walked out of their tents. "Who the hell are you?"-Man1. "This is private property. If you don't leave we'll kill you."-Man2.

"I know that you've been violating these women, I'm not leaving."-Menma. "Well you're not taking away our toys so we'll just have to kill you then!"-Man2 responded pulling out a sword.

Menma sighed and said, "The end of human violence will never come will it."-Menma. "What?"- the man was cut off by Menma blitzing all of them instantly and cutting off all of the important ligaments and tendons in their limbs. They all fell towards the ground paralyzed and Menma said, "Scum like you make me sick, I want to make you all feel the pain those poor women did, but it's not my place to make you suffer."-Menma.

The wooden house Menma made disappeared and Menma called out to all of them. They all ran into the center of the camp and found all of the men paralyzed. Menma made 30 more truth seeking orbs and gave them all to the women the form of weapons. "These men captured you and made you all feel extreme physical and emotional pain, probably permanent damage. I can't make you forget what happened but I can help you have your vengeance. So, beat them to your heart's content."-Menma.

As the women started beating on them while ignoring their pleas Menma had a bitter look on his face and looked away. 'Can I truly stop the cycle of human violence? Such a thing is their nature. Humans are easily tempted, and temptation leads to sin, and sin leads to increasingly evil acts. How would I be able to stop that?"-Menma.

After the women finished the paralyzed bodies laid there, they were alive but probably not for long. Menma walked over to them and created some shadow clones. He took all of their souls and sent them to the Kamui dimension for his split personality to take care of.

Menma walked over to the women and most of them had bittersweet looks as the men's blood mixed with the rain and mud. Menma put his left arm on the shoulder of one of them and said, "I'll take you all back to your village now, I'm sorry I couldn't have come sooner to stop them from... "taking" you."-Menma.

Menma raised his hand off of the woman and Menma looked at it when he realized there was a golden circle that looked like a sun on her shoulder. The woman rubbed herself for a second and said, "I feel like my hymen is restored!"-Lady4. Menma looked at his hand and realized that his hand had a sun mark on it, "This is the sages power."-Menma.

All of the women looked on curiously and Menma started walking towards all of them and rested his hand on all of their shoulders. After he was done they all started talking amongst themselves. "I think the sages power let's me heal people in all physical ways. I'll have to elaborate later."-Menma.

Menma walked up to women and they became silent, "I'm sorry I can't take away your emotional pain. But I'm glad I was able to restore your something."-Menma. The women smiled at him and one of them said, "You've done a lot for us already, we'll never be able to repay you, but thank you."-Lady5.

It stopped raining and Menma nodded at them and they all started walking back towards the village, but Menma couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself, 'Even with all this power I can't truly save people. Honestly I could take away those memories if I wanted too. But it doesn't feel right to take away something like a memory.'-Menma.

Nighttime

Menma arrived at the village gate and all of the women ran into the village to go to their homes. The woman from the hot springs was waiting at the gate and she ran towards her sister, they hugged and the woman told her how much she missed her. As they embraced Menma couldn't help but be reminded of the brotherly embrace he and Naruto use to have after they were worried for each other.

"Oh, Ana, why did you run away?"-Lady3. "The reason I ran away into the forest was because I was trying to get away from having to marry that man."-Ana. "Why would that happen?"-Menma. "Well that's the law of the land, if a man finds a woman they're interested in they can arrange a marriage with them without their permission, or even knowledge."-Lady3.

"Well who made that law?"-Menma. "The leading Daimyo of this land. He lives in the biggest building in the center of the village. You aren't from here are you?"-Lady3. "No, I've come here a couple years ago for a training trip, I'm leaving at the end of the week. But I can make one more stop before I'll leave."-Menma. "Huh? You can't possibly mean"-"Its alright miss, I can be very persuasive."-Menma.

Menma teleported onto the roof of the building the Daimyo lived in and sunk into the room below. The Daimyo was currently working and Menma hopped onto the floor. Before he could do anything Menma looked at him and said, "Kotoamatsukami!"-Menma.

2 Days Later

Menma and Jiraiya started walking towards the village gate and once they turned the corner about 30 women stood there. Menma recognized them as all the women he saved. They were all wearing decorated kimonos instead of the tattered clothes from before.

Menma walked towards them all and they all thanked him for all he's done, "Thank you for everything that you've done for not just us but all the women in the village! We'll never be able to repay you in a thousand years but please accept this gift!"-Lady 3.

Menma accepted the scroll and said, "Well none of you have to thank me in anyway, it was pleasure saving you and changing the law of the land. But what's in the scroll?"-Menma. "Well I recognized the Rinnegan you had from a sacred scroll of our village. And we all agreed you should have it, so that you can learn as much about it as possible!"-Lady4.

Menma had a look of awe and put the scroll in his pouch, "I should be the one thanking all of you for this! The Rinnegan was the one thing I couldn't figure out how to use these past 2 years!"-Menma. The woman joked and said, "Well you don't have to thank us, it was a pleasure helping you with your training goals."-Lady3.

"How do you even have such a scroll?"-Menma. "Well long ago, our village was dependent on something called the divine tree. And one day a man named Ashura came to our village and revealed to us that the tree was killing us. So he created a well and discovered an underground water source which made life great again. He stayed in this village for about a month and while he was staying here he wrote in scrolls a lot. Mainly how to use ninshu, but this scroll contained his father's abilities."-Lady4.

'Ashura huh? The sage told me about you, I wonder if you're watching over me.'-Menma. Menma smiled at all of them and both him and Jiraiya started walking off. They all waved goodbye and Menma waved back. "You've been keeping yourself busy."-Jiraiya. "Well what can I say? I can't help helping people."-Menma.

The Hidden Leaf Village

Menma and Jiraiya stood outside of the Village Gate and Jiraiya ran over to a bush and vomited. Menma looked at him and gave him a nervous laugh, "Haha sorry, the first time I teleport someone they usually become nauseous."-Menma.

Jiraiya returned to him and they walked through the gate, "So when are you gonna read the new book I made?"-Jiraiya. "Hopefully never, I'm already mad at you for thinking Icha Icha Tactics is a good bedtime story. I've had some... interesting dreams because of you."-Menma. Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well someday those tactics will come in handy. Anyways I sent a messenger bird to tell the Hokage we're coming back early, so expect a welcome back party."-Jiraiya.

Menma put his hands behind his head and said, "I wonder how everyone has grown. I haven't really changed much, I'm just taller and more fit. But I can't wait to show everyone and especially Kakashi my new abilities!"-Menma.

They kept on walking until they arrived at the Hokage mansion. They opened the door and Menma was greeted with a bone crushing hug. "Menma you're finally back! Look how you've grown!"-Tsunade. 'How does this hurt so much!?! My skin is as hard as titanium!'-Menma. Tsunade released the hug and Menma took a deep breath.

"Well my physical appearance isn't the only thing that changed, I learned a lot of new techniques too!"-Menma. "Hopefully you'll show me later, but

I heard about what you did in the village you were in, that was pretty heroic of you! You're gonna need to be rewarded for that."-Tsunade. "No, I already got a reward."-Menma.

"Well alright then, but now we should get going to the bigger and better Ichiraku Ramen. All of your friends are waiting for you there."-Tsunade.

Menma came up with an idea for a prank and said, "Ya know I can teleport us there."-Menma. Jiraiya punched him over the head and said, "Don't listen to him, it'll make you vomit. Let's just walk."-Jiraiya. Tsunade glared at Menma for his attempt of pranking her and he just laughed. She didn't appreciate him laughing at her so she punched him out the window.

Menma landed on the ground outside and stood up, "Ow, it was just a prank bro."-Menma. Tsunade and Shizune walked outside and signaled Menma to follow them.

They continued walking past a few blocks and eventually arrived at the restaurant. They opened the door and Menma was greeted by all of his friends and all 3 of the sensei's. They all sat at a big table and there was a bowl of ramen in front of each seat. And above them was a banner that said "Welcome Home Menma".

"Welcome back Menma!"-Everyone. Menma took a good look at all of his friends and thought, 'Wow, nobody really changed but they've all grown a lot at the same time. Except for Shino, Shino will always be Shino.'-Menma. "Hello my friends! I hope life has been good without me?"-Menma. "It's never the same without you!"-Lee.

Menma took another look at his friends and thought, 'Man, Ino has also grown quite a bit... Temari did say she wanted me to find another woman.'-Menma.

But then Menma started to remember everything that he experienced with her and changed his mind, 'No, what I had with her was a special feeling that can't be replicated. She told me to find another woman but I don't think I can.'-Menma.

"Come on, let's eat already!"-Choji. Everyone sat around the table and started eating. "You're not gonna eat Ino?"-Menma. Ino blushed and said, "No thank you Menma, I have to keep this figure."-Ino. Menma made an eye smile and said, "Right... of course."-Menma. "You can have my bowl if you want."-Ino. "Sure!"-Menma.

They were eating for awhile and Choji and Menma had an eating contest. Menma and Choji sat down their bowls and Choji fell out of his chair. "Looks like I'm the winner!"-Menma.

"So Menma, you've come back a year early. Does that mean you finished your training early?"-Neji. "You're mostly right. I mastered the sharingan, but I only learned 2 of the rinnegan abilities. But one of them is really cool, it let's me revive people from the dead! I was only able to learn that because the people of the village I was at gave me a scroll with all of the Rinnegan abilities in it. If you're wondering how that happened Tsunade will announce it later."-Menma.

"Well do you want to show us one of your new abilities?"-Tenten. Menma had a devilish grin on his face and said, "Why yes, of course. Hey Neji make eye contact me with." Neji did what he said, "Kotoamatsukami!"-Menma. Neji tensed up for a second. Then he grabbed Tenten and kissed her. "Youthful love!"-Lee.

Menma and the rest of them started laughing historically as Tenten blushed madly and Menma started explaining, "This Haha, ability let's me, HAHAHA, make people do something without them realizing it! HAHAHA"- Menma was cut off by a 8 trigrams 64 palms. Everyone started laughing even more from his overreaction.

Then there was Shino. Shino was just sitting there being Shino. In his mind he was Shinoing his Shino ways and was becoming annoyed in a Shino way. "So Menma. Do you have any other abilities you can show us?"-Shino. Menma layed there paralyzed for a few more seconds and activated the rinnegan. "Can someone touch my hand?"-Menma. Shikamaru walked over to him and touched his hand. Menma drained some chakra out of it and stood back up. "Asuma, could you pull out a cigarette?"-Menma.

Asuma looked at him confused but did what he said. He pulled out a cigarette and Menma said, "Amaterasu!"-Menma. Menma's eye bled and a black flame was on the cigarette. "Menma why is your eye bleeding?"-Lee. "Well that's the side effect of using it, but I can also do this!"-Menma.

Asuma was about to smoke the cigarette Menma lit for him, but Menma turned a tso into a kunai and threw it at the cigarette. Asuma frowned but Kuranai laughed. "I already knew this ability before I left, but none of you have seen it besides Neji, so I'll show you Kamui. Ino, punch me."-Menma.

Ino looked at him confused, "What? I'm not gonna punch y"-"Sakura was always hotter than you."-Menma. Ino punched him in the head but her hand went right through it. "Kamui basically makes me untouchable for about 10 minutes. It also allows me to teleport anywhere in the world, and I can teleport to my own dimen"- Menma was cut off by a punch to his face by Ino.

He flew a few feet back and Ino had a satisfied smile. "It was only a joke, you're much more beautiful than her."-Menma. Ino blushed and Menma stood back up, "I still have one more ability, but there isn't really a playful way I can use it. So I think I should leave now."-Menma.

Menma started walking out the door. Choji laid on the ground unconscious, Asuma was sad about his cigarette, Neji and Tenten were sitting awkwardly near each other, and the rest of his friends waved goodbye to him.

Menma pulled out the paper Itachi gave him and look at it. 'Tonight's the night.'-Menma.

Menma started walking off to get prepared, he would have to tell Kakashi to fight him tomorrow.

Nighttime

Menma walked through another wall of the hideout and looked around. 'Why is this place so big?'-Menma. Menma continued walking down the hall and examined the doors. Menma stopped and looked down at a door that had lights on.

Menma flew through the ceiling onto the next floor and walked into the room above that one. Menma got on his knees and faced his head through the floor. He looked down and saw Danzo writing down something.

Menma faced through the floor and appeared in front of Danzo. "Danzo, there's someone who wants to meet you. Come with me and I won't have to hurt you."-Menma. Menma made the plant in the room wrap around Danzo as a threat.

"Ah, wood style. So you really did survive the transplant."-Danzo. Menma stood there confused, "Transplant? What are you"- Menma was interrupted by a riot ninja grabbing him from below and pulling him into a new room.

The root ninja grabbed Menma and another root member was about to slash down on him. Menma fazed through the ninja that was holding him and the ninja got slashed by the sword. Menma drop kicked the injured ninja into the other and Menma stabbed both of them with the sage blade.

5 more root ninja ran into the room and one threw a kunai at him. Menma caught it and was about to throw it back but realized it had a paper bomb on it. Menma cursed and created a tso shield around himself. The blast made Menma and the shield fly out of the room.

The tso ball bounced on the ground a couple times before Menma dropped it and looked around himself. This room was much bigger, it was gray and there was a big bridge in the middle.

Danzo entered the room with 10 root ninja behind him. Before Danzo could say anything Menma used Amaterasu on him. Danzo yelled in pain for a minute but then he ripped the bandage off of his right eye and looked at Menma. "Deactivate it!"-Danzo.

Menma did what he said and Danzo recollected himself. "Now, Menma, calm down. Why are you trying to capture me?"-Danzo. "My friend Itachi wants to see you. And I have some questions about Orochimaru."-Menma.

Danzo scoffed and said, "Itachi? He's a traitor to the village, why would"-"Don't feed me that bullshit! He already told me everything about how you've created the Akatsuki. And how it's your fault the Uchihas are gone!"-Menma. "The Uchihas were a danger to the village! What's the guarantee that"-"Enough! I'm done talking."-Menma.

Danzo walked out of the room and said, "Make sure you don't make eye contact with him, those eyes are lethal."-Danzo. Around 100 root members ran into the room and were getting ready to attack.

Menma created 50 shadow clones and they all created chidoris. They raised their hands together and yelled, "Chidori Stream!" All of the root ninja got electrocuted and were disposed of.

Menma started running out of the room but stopped when he saw a black and white tiger try to attack him. Menma used Amaterasu on it and looked in the direction it came from. A pale man a couple years younger than Menma stood there with all black attire, and a crop top shirt. Menma looked closer at his hands and saw a paint brush.

After looking at him he looked at all the ninja around him and realized something, "These are just kids!"-Menma. But before he could do anything the man drew on his scroll and created 5 more tigers. Menma used Amaterasu on them again and he tried to grab the man with wood style but he failed.

The same thing a couple more times and Menma started feeling a little nauseous. 'My head is losing too much blood. I'm gonna have to end this soon.'-Menma.

Menma created multiple tso's and placed them across the room. The man created more animals but the tso's turned into spikes and stabbed them. Now sense the man couldn't draw anymore Menma blitzed him and destroyed his brush and scroll.

Menma held the man down and activated Kotoamatsukami. "You're gonna go to the Hokage and tell her everything that's been happening here. Then after that you will become a normal leaf ninja."-Menma.

The man stood up and started walking away. Menma took a deep breath and made all the tso's return to him. Menma teleported outside of the hideout and saw Danzo.

Danzo saw him and stopped running. He faced Menma and took off the bandages on his arm revealing multiple sharingan. Menma was disgusted by the sight and used Amaterasu on Danzo again.

Danzo became enveloped by it but then he appeared a few meters away from where he stood. Menma looked confused and Danzo explained, "This is the power of Izanagi. It allows me to put an illusion on reality itself and control whether I die or be injured."-Danzo. Menma got over his initial shock and thought, 'Why do people always like to explain how their abilities work?"-Menma.

Menma blitzed Danzo and cut off his sharingan arm. But it reappeared on. "This is gonna be tedious."-Menma.

Danzo turned around and used wind bullets on Menma but he fazed through them. Once the bullets stopped coming Menma used the sage blade and stabbed Danzo by extending it. But Danzo used Izanagi again.

"This is boring."-Menma. Before anything else could happen a voice said, "Danzo."

Danzo looked in the direction of the voice to confirm who he thought it was and was met with red eyes. Danzo stood there for a second but collapsed on the ground. "Damn it, I got caught in Tsukuyomi."-Danzo. Menma blitzed him again and cut off his sharingan arm. He wasn't sure what to do with it so he dropped it on the ground.

Itachi had nothing to say to Danzo so he was about to cut him down but Menma stopped him, "Wait! Let me ask him some questions first."-Menma. Itachi lowered his blade and Menma walked up to him.

"Where's Orochimaru?"-Menma. Danzo laughed at him, "Why would I tell you?"-Danzo. Menma didn't feel like playing around so he ripped out Danzo's sharingan eye and gave it to Itachi.

While Danzo was screaming in pain Menma walked up to the DECAPITATED arm and took out one of its sharingan's and put it in his eye. Menma used izanagi to allow him to use Kotoamatsukami again. Menma plucked out the eye and put back in his normal one.

"I'll ask again. Where, is, Orochimaru?"-Menma. "He never stays in the same place. He has 4 hideouts but I only know where one is."-Danzo.

"And where is it?"-Menma. "You've already been there."-Danzo. "So it's useless information then."-Menma. But Menma remembered something Danzo said earlier and asked another question. "What did you mean earlier when you said transplant?"-Menma.

Danzo chuckled a little and said, "When you were much younger I tried to recruit you. I implanted Hashirama cells into your body so that I would win either way. You would have ended up as the other experiments and we would have only 1 jinchuriki, or you would survive and I would take you away from your home, But Hiruzen found out and stopped me before I could capture you. That's why you can use wood style."-Danzo. Menma despaired at the thought of possibly dying at such a young age and asked, "What happened to all the other experiments?"-Menma.

"They all mutated and died. Besides you there has only been one survivor."-Danzo. "But why did you want me?"-Menma.

"That night that all of the villagers attacked you, your were supposed to die. But then Kakashi came along and ruined everything. I tried to have his ninja privileges removed but it didn't work... Only one 9 tails Jinchuriki was enough, that Naruto seemed to be pure hearted enough, but you... past all the pain I could see a deep hatred in your eyes. And I couldn't allow anything bad to happen to the village because of you!"-Danzo.

Menma wasn't sure what to think or what to say, he wasn't wrong. But Menma did change, although that doesn't change the punishment that Danzo deserves. Menma walked behind Danzo and put his hand on his head and activated his rinnegan. "Danzo Shimura, you claim you want to protect the village, but you're the reason for everything wrong in the village. If you didn't take Shisui's eye then the Uchiha clan would still be alive and they would be peaceful... Sasuke would have never left the village. Then before that you helped a man named Hanzo kill the original Akatsuki simply for trying to help people, and because of that we are facing a new Akatsuki with a new goal in mind. I'm not sure if you're just delusional or a liar, but you have caused nothing but harm to this village, and because of that we will stop you from causing anymore harm."-Menma.

Menma signalled Itachi to kill him and Itachi sliced through his throat.

As the blood dripped from Danzo's neck Menma tore the soul from his body and sent it to Hell.(I'll just call the place that Menma tortures people Hell, because that's practically what it is.)

"Ya know, I had one of his ninjas go tell Tsunade what Danzo did. So you might be allowed to come back home."-Menma. Itachi shook his head and said, "No, after everything that happened it's better if I don't go back, but I'll be around."-Itachi.

"But the Akatsuki believe that you might have the 9 tails still."-Itachi. "Why?"-Menma. "Well it usually takes a year for the 9 tails to reform, but it hasn't. So they think you might have lied. So be wary."-Itachi.

Menma nodded and they went their separate ways.

'Tomorrow I should go to the Hidden Sand Village, the Akatsuki will be there very soon."-Menma.

Menma started walking down the road towards home, but changed his mind and went to the Hokage mansion.

Once he got there he opened the front door to see Tsunade half awake on her desk and a bottle of Sake in her hand. "M...Menma? Wha...what are you doing here so late?"-Tsunade.

"After you rescued me from Orochimaru's hideout, did you have the place searched?"-Menma. "Yea-yeah, we brought back some guy."-Tsunade. "Can I see him?"-Menma.

Tsunade pulled out a key from her desk and gave it to him. The key had a room number on it. "Yeah, yeah sure. Go for it."-Tsunade. Menma took the key and was surprised, "Just like that?"-Menma. Tsunade couldn't respond though because she was already asleep again. "Well, thanks. I guess."-Menma.

Menma walked out the office and towards the prison. Once he arrived there he came face to face with a guard. He showed the guard the Hokage's key and he let him by.

Menma walked down the corridors and showed up in front of a door with a guard in front of it. He showed the guard the key and the guard told him, "You have 10 minutes."

Menma walked past him into the room. He walked in and came face to face with a white haired man. The man turned around and looked at him. He looked a lot like Menma except his eyes and teeth were different. The man looked at him confused and seemed to acknowledge the twin like features, "Who the hell are you?"

Menma smiled at him and said, "I'm you, but better."-Menma. The man looked at him for a second then threw a chair at him. Menma fazed through it and looked at him angrily, "What was that for!?!"-Menma. Menma picked the chair and threw it back at him but it went through his water like body. "I'm in a jail! Why are you making jokes?!?!"

The man was going to throw something else at him but the guard banged on the door and told them to quiet down. They both calmed down and laughed it off and the man introduced himself, "Suigetsu Hozuki, and who are you?"-Suigetsu. "I'm Menma Uzumaki, and I've come to you with a proposition."-Menma.

Suigetsu stood there and was waiting for him to say what it was, but Menma was just standing there like he wanted him to ask what it was. "I'm not gonna say it."-Suigetsu. "Come on just say it"-"No I'm not"-"Come on bro just say it"-"I'm not saying it!"-Suigetsu. "JUST SAY IT!"-Menma. "FINE! WHATS THE PROPOSITION?!?"-Suigetsu.

Menma spread his arms open and said, "Why I'm glad you asked! I know that you've been around Orochimaru for a long time. And if he's kept you around for so long you must be special, so I want you to help me hunt him down."-Menma.

Suigetsu thought about it and said, "That all sounds very nice. I do kinda want to get back at him for capturing me. Sure, I'll help you. But I want you to help me with something too."-Suigetsu. Menma was waiting for him to answer but he was doing the same thing Menma just did.

Menma realized what he was doing and laughed, "Hahaha! What's the one condition?"-Menma. "You're going to help me collect all of the 7 swordsmen of the mist's blades."-Suigetsu. Menma thought for a moment and agreed, "Ok, we can do that. I know where 3 of the 7 swords are already."-Menma.

"Alright! Let's go now then."-Suigetsu. Suigetsu started walking out the door but Menma stopped him. "We can't just go yet. I need permission from Tsunade first or else I would be labeled a rogue ninja. Just wait a little while, I'll bring some of the blades to you and I'll get you out of here by next week. Deal?"-Menma asked reaching out his hand.

Suigetsu looked disappointed but he shook his hand and said, "Deal."-Suigetsu.

Menma waved goodbye teleported to the Kazekage mansion. Although once he got there he saw Matsuri run up to him.

"Menma, thank goodness you're here! You have to save Gaara, he's been captured!"-Matsuri. "Wait slow down, he's already been captured? Where did they go?"-Menma. Matsuri nodded her head, "Yes, go outside the village entrance and follow the footsteps. We've already sent out a team to go after them yesterday."-Matsuri. "How long ago was he captured?"-Menma. "2 days ago."-Matsuri.

Menma felt dread, 'I thought I had everything planned well.'-Menma. Menma was about to leave but Matsuri grabbed his hand, "Please, bring him back."-Matsuri. Menma forced a smile on his face and told her, "Of course, I always keep my promises!"-Menma.

Menma teleported away and appeared in front of the footprints. He started following them and he started thinking, 'How could he have already been captured? Itachi said they would capture him a lot later.'-Menma.

Menma created 5,000 clones and had them all search the surrounding area and further ahead just in case the footprints were fake. "Don't worry Gaara, I won't fail you!"-Menma.


	11. Kazekage Retrieval

I'm gonna have to retcon the part about the Leaf having one of the 7 swords of the mist. I did more research and found out that the sword I was thinking about isn't actually one of the swords.

Letters/flashback speech: Underlined

Tsunade woke up to a poking feeling on her head. She looked up and saw Shizune poking her. "What do you want Shizune?"-Tsunade. "We have visitors from the sand village."-Shizune.

Tsunade shaped herself up and said, "Let them in."-Tsunade. Shizune opened the door and saw a sand ninja walk in and spoke, "Lady Hokage, the sand village has requested your assistance in a recent urgent matter."-Ninja.

"What's the reason?"-Tsunade. "Our village was attacked by the Akatsuki a couple days ago and they captured the Kazekage. If you would we would be in debt to you if you helped us retrieve him."-Ninja.

Tsunade was still half asleep but after hearing that she was fully awake. "Yes of course! Shizune, gather team Gai, Kakashi, and Menma."-Tsunade.

Shizune had a nervous laugh. "Why are you laughing?"-Tsunade. "Yeah... well about Menma, that was the other thing."-Shizune. Tsunade squinted her eyes at her, "What about him?"-Tsunade. "Last night he left the village after he talked to Suigetsu. Suigetsu said he went to the sand village."-Shizune.

Taunade started to remember what happened last night when she was drunk, and she became angry. "That Menma..." Tsunade punched through her desk and Shizune flinched. "When he gets back here I'm gonna beat a lesson into him about leaving village whenever he wants!"-Tsunade. The sand ninja didn't want to stay there any longer so he told Shizune, "Have them meet me and my team at the village gate."-Ninja.

Back With Menma

Menma continued running on the trees and slipped on a branch. He fell to the ground and struggled to get back up. To release some of the strain he dispelled his clones until there was only 100 left searching. "Damn, I haven't slept in the past few days."-Menma.

Menma stood back up and continued running until he noticed the trees around him started transforming. Menma stopped dead in his tracks and looked around himself until his eyes met with a beautiful woman.

The woman wore native looking clothes and had long brown hair. She also had white skin and a sword on her back. "Uh, hello miss. I don't know who you are but I have to save my friend."-Menma.

Menma started running away but the trees transformed again and the lady spoke, "You don't know who I am so let me introduce myself. My is Freya, and I am the goddess of love, fertility, and more."-Freya.

Menma processed the information in his head and became hostile, "So, your a God."-Menma. Freya put up her hands in defense, "I am not that kind of God. The Gods you must be thinking of are the Aesir gods. I am a Vanir God."-Freya.

Menma was a little confused but understood what she said. Freya sighed and said, "I don't have time to give you a lesson on my people sense my time here is limited. But I will tell you this. Don't linger in this world for too long, if you are going to fight my husband you must become much stronger."-Freya. "Well I already knew that, but why do you want me to do it so soon?"-Menma.

Freya looked down with a guilty face and said, "My husband has manipulated me into teaching him the magic arts. And he's using it to try to absorb the power of the dead from your world."-Freya. Menma's eyes widened and he said, "Wh-what do you mean?"-Menma.

"Right now your world has no heaven, they are simply trying to fight off his desire for power. If you fail to defeat him, the souls of everyone including your friends will be destroyed."-Freya. "Well, then take me back with you now!"-Menma.

Freya shook her head, "No, right now you can't stand up to him."-Freya. Menma was about to protest but fell to his knees and started punching the ground. "Damn it, Damn it, damn it damn it DAMN IT! Even after 2 years of training I wouldn't stand a chance against him!"-Menma.

Freya put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't feel discouraged young one. Use this info to push you to become even more powerful. The reason your still here is because people have entrusted the future to you. Don't fail them!"-Freya.

Freya started to feel a pull and a portal showed up to take her back. Menma grabbed her arm and she said, "Don't let your friends sacrifices be in vain! The fate of the 9 realms is in your hands! You must defeat Odin!"-Freya. Freya disappeared into the portal and Menma was left to his thoughts. '9 realms? As in other planets? And Odin? Is that his name?'-Menma.

Menma's arm felt weird so he looked down at it and realized it was glowing. The glowing subsided and a weird symbol appeared on his arm. He didn't recognize the symbol but all of a sudden his arm started glowing again and his eyes turned gold. He felt like his soul left his body and he started having visions.

Images started flashing in his head. The first was of a gigantic tree, much bigger than even the planet. 9 different land masses sat on the branches of the tree. He started flying towards one of the realms and a word popped up in his head. 'Midgard'. When Menma looked at the world he felt at home, but he didn't recognize any of the landmass.

Before Menma could think more about it he flew towards another realm. When he looked at it another word popped up in his mind, 'Jötunheim.' His soul flew onto the land and be looked around to see endless mountains decorated with giant dead bodies. Menma looked around him to see if anything wasn't dead and his minds met with a giant fox. He squinted his eyes and saw that the fox had 9 tails. "Kurama?"-Menma. The fox turned around to look in his direction and Menma recognized the fox. "Kurama!"-Menma.

The fox didn't see anything so it kept on walking. Menma started calling after him and he tried flying towards him. "No Kurama! Come back! Don't leave me again!"-Menma. Menma started to feel a pull on his soul and he started flying away from the planet.

Menma's body flew back to Midgard and his soul landed at the bottom of the planet. Everything looked like ice but once he got close enough he started seeing the 5 nations.

Menma's soul flew back into his body and he looked around himself. Once he got used to his surroundings he thought about what just happened and he screamed up at the sky.

After he was done he stood up and took a deep breath and continued on his search. He felt a rise of stress in his heart but ignored it. 'Geez I'm such a mess, whether it's my split personality or my weak emotional will... no matter, I can't think about this now, I'll just have to bottle it up.'-Menma.

Along the way he started thinking more about what she said and what happened. He still wasn't sure what just happened but he could think about it later, he had to focus on the here and now.Then he started thinking about just how many people and things relied on whether he would complete his mission or not. He started thinking about some of his friends and his girlfriend that died, 'They all died in horrible ways. And now in the afterlife they're still struggling, that isn't right.'-Menma. Menma clenched his fist and promised to himself, "This isn't just about me, this isn't simple vengeance, this is my destiny. I've had a lot of my friends die, and I won't let their deaths be in vain. Not Hiruzen, Kankuro, Hinata, Sakura, Temari, or Kurama. I won't fail you!"-Memma.

After running for another half an hour he saw a man with a huge bandages sword waiting for him. "It's you again!"-Menma.

Kisame stood up and said, "It seems like Itachi wrong about your tailed beast. But I'm glad you remembered me."-Kisame.

Menma knew what was gonna happen so he pulled out his sage blade and charged at Kisame.

While they were striking at each other Menma said, "Ya know, I have a friend that would like to have that sword."-Menma. "Ha, well maybe when I'm dead."-Kisame.

Kisame dashed back and activated a jutsu. All of a sudden water started flooding the battle field and he started surfing on it. The waves were too erratic to stand on so Menma started flying above them.

Huge pillars of water started popping out of the water and Menma started flying around them to dodge them. While he was dodging them Kisame sunk into the water.

Menma was starting to struggle dodging them and activated Kamui to avoid some of the hits. 'Damn, I'll only be able to use this for a few more minutes today.'-Menma.

The water below him started bubbling and Menma flew high up as the water erupted. Once the water settled Menma looked around for Kisame and sensed him above him. Menma looked up as Kisame slashed down at him and the sword went right through him.

Menma tried to grab him so he could teleport him away but felt a sharp pain on his back. While Menma was shocked the clone grabbed him and Kisame slammed the sword against him, sending into the water.

As he tried to reach the surface the waves started forming a whirlpool and Menma started drowning. When Kisame was about to finish the job he was interrupted by a Dynamic Entry by Gai.

The jutsu dispelled and Menma came out of the water. He coughed aggressively and Neji asked, "Menma are you alright?"-Neji. Menma gave him a thumbs up and Lee said, "We can handle this from here. Go ahead without us."-Lee.

Menma stood up and started running away but Gai stopped him. "Menma, one last thing. When you come back to the village Tsunade intends to punish you for leaving the village without permission."-Gai. Menma paled for a second and continued running.

Hidden Leaf Prison

Tsunade walked with Shizune down the corridors and Shizune said, "Lady Tsunade, are you sure we should do this? I mean, if he was with Orochimaru for so long don't you think"-"I know what I'm doing Shizune. Menma talked to him already and nothing happened so it'll be fine."-Tsunade.

They arrived at their destination and the guard opened the door for them. Once they walked in They saw Suigetsu sleeping. "WAKE UP!"-Tsunade.

Suigetsu jumped out of his chair and looked up at them. "Who the hell are you?"-Suigetsu. Tsunade decided to ignore the blatant disrespect and said, "I am the 5th Hokage, and depending on what you say I might let you out of here."-Tsunade.

Suigetsu decided to listen, "Last night when you talked to Menma what did you talk about?"-Tsunade. "We made a deal. He said he would speak to you about me being released. Once that happened I would help him locate Orochimaru. And in return he would help me retrieve all 7 of the swords of the mist."-Suigetsu.

"What do you think about Orochimaru?"-Tsunade. "Well he did capture me and stop me from achieving my goal, so I don't like him."-Suigetsu. "And what will you do after you have all of the swords?"-Tsunade.

Suigetsu thought for a second and said, "I don't know yet, by that point I would have honored my brother and achieved my dream. But just in case you're wondering, I'm not interested in anything like world domination."-Suigetsu.

Tsunade was satisfied by that and asked one more question, "What is Menma to you?"-Tsunade. "Well, I just met him so I feel pretty indifferent towards him. But he seemed alright."-Suigetsu.

Tsunade was satisfied by that and said, "Well you're clearly honest, if you said you thought of him as a friend I would have thought you were lying."-Tsunade.

Suigetsu stood up and said, "Alright! So I can leave now right?"-Suigetsu. "Yes, you're free. But sense you're a ninja I can't just let you go around doing anything you want. So I'll grant you the title of a Leaf ninja, and your first mission is to help find Gaara."-Tsunade.

Suigetsu lost a lot of excitement after hearing that and groaned. "Is that a problem? Cause if it is I can let you stay in here and"-"No no no, it's no problem! I'll be happy to!"-Suigetsu.

Tsunade smiled and said, "That's great! Here's your headband."-Tsunade. Suigetsu accepted it with reluctance and wrapped it around his neck. "Well then, follow me to the village gate and I'll tell you where to go."-Tsunade.

Clone of Menma

Menma was jumping past the trees and saw a couple of white heads in the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw Kakashi with an old lady. "Hey Kakashi!"-Menma.

They stopped running and looked at him. "Menma, any luck?"-Kakashi. "No, but I'll find it soon. Who's that lady?"-Menma. "This is Lady Chiyo, she's been sent to help fight Sasori and the other guy."-Kakashi.

Menma greeted her and they started running in the direction they were earlier.

"So, I heard from Kakashi that you're also being targeted by the Akatsuki."-Chiyo. "Uh, yes I am. I'm being hunted for the 9 tails."-Menma.

They kept on running but a question popped up in his mind. "So, sense you're a village elder can you answer a question?"-Menma.

"Depends on the question."-Chiyo. "Why were Jinchurikis created? And why does the Akatsuki Want them?"-Menma. Chiyo looked at him for a moment and came up with an answer, "Well as you must know there are 9 tailed beast. Each one is a powerhouse that could level a village. I'm not sure why the Akatsuki is after them, but that is a dangerous power. The reason Jinchuriki were created was because people didn't believe such powerful beast should be allowed to roam free. So they captured them and sealed them away, usually in infant children, as a means to having a powerful village weapon."-Chiyo.

Menma lowered his head and thought, 'Wish I didn't ask.'-Menma. Menma started picking up the pace and ran ahead of them. "Wait up Menma!"-Kakashi. "I can't, every second we waste is another second that Gaara could be dying!"-Menma.

Kakashi sighed and Chiyo asked, "Why is he so intent on saving Gaara?"-Chiyo. "Well, Menma was a jinchuriki too."-Kakashi. Chiyo was shocked.

"Even though they aren't from the same village that doesn't matter to Menma, he considers him one of his greatest friends... the reason he's so intent on saving him is because he's the only person he can truly relate too, as you know jinchuriki are treated with the same isolation and abuse no matter what village it is. And Gaara is someone who experienced the same loneliness and solitude as him. But at the same time Gaara had it worst. It was only a couple years ago that people started truly loving him while Menma had loved ones at a much younger age. And he doesn't want Gaara to be alone again, so that's why he's so intent on saving him."-Kakashi.

Chiyo processed the information and started thinking about it as they kept on running.

5 Seal Barrier Cliff

Menma arrived at his destination and saw a giant boulder with a seal on it. He tried walking through it with Kamui but it didn't work. "Damn, I'm too exhausted to use Kamui."-Menma yawned and flew up to the seal.

The raised up his left arm and the seal reappeared on his forearm. 'Time to find out what you can do.'-Menma. Put placed the hand on the seal and he felt the presence of 5 other seals in the area. "Alright! I can locate connected chakra sources nearby."-Menma.

Menma dispelled all of his clones and created 5. He sent them off and they all went towards a seal.

1st Menma Clone

Menma pulled off the seal and was about to dispel but a formed out the ground. The figure became solid and it was another Menma. Expect it's eyes were orange and their hair was red. It was also a woman.

Menma looked at the new person dumbfounded. He also noticed they wore a lot of jewelry and a fur coat even though it's hot outside. The person saw Menma and ran towards him. "Wow! This is an amazing cloth! What are your clothes made out of? You gotta tell me the store they came from! You know what, never mind just give me yours!"-Mina.

2nd Menma Clones

The Menma pulled off the seal and a figure appeared out of the ground. When it became solid it looked like Menma, but with some differences on it. Firstly its eyes were yellow and it's hair looked flat, except it had a wavy look to it. It also wore a shirt with the word supreme on it. There were some weird looking white objects in its ears and its sandals had the word Gucci on them. "Uh, who are you."-Menma. The person was mumbling something along the lines of, "murder on my mind" but saw that Menma was talking and said, "Ehhhh? Sorry but I don't speak broke!"-Cloutius Chasinorticus.

3rd Menma Clone

A figure popped out of the ground and started forming. Once it became solid it looked like Menma, but a little different. It wore a fedora and fancy clothes that were all red with zebra stripes as a secondary color. It wore a gold undershirt and had a fancy ornate black cane with a gold handle. Also It's eyes were blue. It looked around and saw Menma the said, "Ah my good man! Could you point me towards the nearest brothel? The homie Mike Klinger has been feeling lonely."-Mike.

4th Menma Clone

The person formed and once again it looked like Menma but with some differences. It's eyes were a lighter shade of blue and it's hair was lazily done. It sat on the ground and yawned then it just went to sleep. Menma was surprised by it but decided to leave.

5th Menma Clone

The man that appeared looked like Menma but had green eyes. And wore basic clothes. The guy looked at him and spoke in a sad voice, "Wow, those are some pretty nice clothes. And you're quite muscular."-Menama.

Back to Menma

Menma looked at the seal with rinnegan eyes and saw that all of the chakra in it was gone. He pulled off the seal and backed up. He was waiting for something to happen but nothing did. Menma walked up to it and reeled back his fist before punching it. The boulder crumbled under the force and Menma ran inside.

Once he got inside he saw 2 men in robes Infront of him. One had a husky look and wore a face mask, while the other one had a long bang covering one of his eyes and was sitting on a body.

Menma recognized the body as Gaara and called out to him, "Gaara! What are you doing sleeping at a time like this?" No response. "Hey Gaara, come on wake up!" No response. "Come on Gaara, GAARA!"-Menma. "He can't hear you now, you were a bit late to save him."-Deidara.

Menma was going to deny it but all he had to do was look at Gaara and sense that there was no chakra in him. Menma started clenching his fist until it felt like his bones were crushing, and his chakra became more intense. 'Damn it, even with all this power, I still can't save a single friend. I truly am a failure."-Menma.

Menma looked up at them with tears in his eyes and thought, 'Don't worry Gaara. I won't let your death be in vain!'-Menma.

Menma took a step towards them and felt his body ache, 'Damn, I haven't slept in the past few days. And I'm running low on chakra... whatever, screw that! I'll just have to push past my limits!'-Menma.

Menma's chakra intensified to the point where the terrain around him shook. "Get off of him."-Menma. Deidara put his hand up to his ear and spoke in a mocking tone, "Huh, what was that?"-Deidara.

"I said, GET OFF OF HIM!!"-Menma. Menma activated his sharingan and flew towards Deidara and reached out his hand. But before he could reach Deidara's face a tail came out of Sasori's cloak and blocked it. Menma ripped the tail off of his body and stabbed Sasori with it.

Sasori's body was crushed like a puppet and a body flew out the back of it. When Sasori looked up he had a surprised look on his face, 'How was my hiroko shell destroyed so easily?'-Sasori.

Sasori pulled out his 3rd Kazekage puppet and told Deidara, "Take Gaara's body and get out of here."-Sasori. Deidara was going to resist but saw he was serious and compiled.

But while he was flying out Menma cut him off and covered the cave exit with Amaterasu. "No one, is going anywhere!"-Menma. Menma charged at Sasori again and manifested the sage blade. The puppet stretched out an arm and at least 100,000 smaller arms came out. Menma charged towards the arms and started cutting them up as they tried to assault him. Menma was progressively making his way towards the puppet and extended his blade to make one big slash that destroyed all of the arms.

Once he reached the puppet he made a thrusting motion with the blade but was intercepted by iron sand. The sand tried grabbing Menma so he had to jump back. The puppet created 2 rectangular prisms and a pyramid out of the iron sand before throwing poles of it at Menma. Menma dodged the poles easily and the number started increasing. Eventually the poles that landed on the ground started flying back up to him Menma. Menma created a shield around himself and the poles started knocking him around. After awhile Menma dropped the shield and started knocking away the poles with a staff. Then he grabbed one of poles and threw it back at Sasori.

The pole hit the iron sand shield and all of the sand gathered into one place. "Iron Sand technique:World Order."-Sasori. All of a sudden the sand started turning into thousands of different poles and were about to hit Menma.

When all of the poles started charging after Menma he coated his hands with tso orbs to negate the poison and used some of the poles as leverage. Menma started dodging all of the poles for at least 3 minutes and was starting to feel exhausted. Once the onslaught was over Sasori thought he was dead but chakra started gathering in one place and building up In power.

Menma used Amaterasu to obliterate all of the iron sand constructs and blitzed the puppet, which destroyed it. Sasori pulled out a scroll from his back and activated it, the action caused pipes to appear on his hands. He pointed his arms towards Menma and a stream of fire came out of it. Menma used 1 of the 2 orbs he had left and blocked the attack with a shield.

Sasori made an inference that elemental attacks wouldn't work on him so he threw away his cloak and opened a panel on his chest that revealed a ball of chakra. Sasori made a hand seal and summoned 100 puppets. "This battle has gone on long enough, so I'm gonna end this now with this jutsu that won against a nation."-Sasori.

Menma looked at all of the puppets and thought, 'Well now I know how all of my enemies feel when I use shadow clones.'-Menma.

Menma made about 20 clones and felt like he was almost out of chakra. 'Damn it! I'm gonna have to end this soon.' Menma looked over at Gaara's body and thought, 'Don't worry Gaara, I will keep you safe. And I won't your sacrifice be for nothing!'-Menma.

Menma charged at all of the puppets and started destroying them. They were surprisingly easy to destroy and Menma cleared them all with ease. And charged at Sasori. Sasori tried guarding himself by bringing out blades from his sides but he was too late and Menma looked him in the eyes as he stabbed the blade through the heart like canister in his chest.

Sasori didn't have the chance to say anything and the last thing he could feel was fear as Menma formed a rasengan and destroyed his "heart". His last thoughts were, 'My art has lasted long enough.'-Sasori.

Menma dropped his body to the ground and looked at Deidara. Deidara was surprised that Sasori fell but looked back at Menma and glared. "You have those same eyes. Those damn Uchiha eyes! I will prove my art is superior! I'll never lose to another one of you!"-Deidara. Deidara made the bird dissolve and turned it into a dragon. Deidara's next move was to make clay pour out his hands and turn them into humanoid figures.

They all looked at Menma and started charging at him. Menma stepped out of the way of one but when he did it exploded in his face and made him fly back. The remaining 20 started doing the same thing and Menma created a handheld shield.

He started blocking and deflecting them away until they were all gone. But Deidara didn't let up his assault and made the dragon shoot homing clay missiles at him. Menma used the 20 clones he had left to all charge at the missiles and take the hits. Once they were taken care of Deidara looked at Menma again and said, "You still have those same eyes, I will beat you!"-Deidara.

Deidara pulled out a chunk of clay from his pouch and started eating it. After he was finished he vomited it all out and the clay started to form into a physical form. The figure started growing in size and was rising above the caves roof.

Menma realized that the cave was about to collapse so he ran over to Gaara's body and ran outside the cave exit.

Menma sat Gaara's body against a tree and turned around to look at Deidara with awe. There was a giant version of Deidara that started walking towards him. Menma wasn't sure what to do so he started running away to create some distance. "Where you going? There's no way you can escape my C4 Karura!"-Deidara.

Deidara clapped his hands together and the giant started to inflate. Menma noticed this and was about to brace himself for the explosion. But when it came nothing happened, it looked like his body popped like a balloon.

Menma was about to run back over to Deidara but noticed that his body started turning into dust. Deidara had a smile on his face and said, "I was gonna use this against Itachi but your good enough. This jutsu sends out microscopic bombs that are invisible to the naked eye across a huge area, anything living that it touches will die!"-Deidara.

Menma's body continued to turn to dust and there was nothing he could do about it eventually his entire body turned to dust and he was gone. Deidara was satisfied but quickly realized something, "Damn it, I forgot I forgot I was suppose to capture him alive!"-Deidara.

Deidara flew onto the ground near Gaara's body and dispelled the dragon. "The leader won't be happy about this."-Deidara. "You won't have to worry about that."-Menma. Before Deidara could do anything he was impaled by a chidori to his liver by Menma.

While Deidara was coughing blood he asked, "How?"-Deidara. Menma deactivated his sharingan and spoke with an exhausted voice, "It's simple really, earlier right after I killed Sasori you looked at me directly in the eyes. Your obvious distaste in the Uchiha blinded you from realizing you put yourself in a genjutsu."-Menma.

Menma was about to pull his arm out of his body but before he could Deidara started laughing and Menma felt his legs being grabbed and the person his arm impaled turned to clay. Menma tried to activate his EMS but didn't have enough chakra. "Hahahaha! That's just like something Itachi would do! But I don't fall for the same trick twice, so I already knew you put me under a genjutsu!"-Deidara.

Deidara rised up out of the ground and

Used the clay clone to start inflating. Deidara jumped away and the clay clone swallowed up Menma. Menma broke his arm free of the clone and cut out a hole in him to escape. Menma activated a chidori with the last of his chakra and started charging towards Deidara. But Deidara expected this, so he activated the explosion and the nanobombs he put in Menma blew up.

The explosion blew Deidara back and he landed into a few trees. He caught his breath and stood back up. He looked around and saw that there was no Menma. "Hahaha. HAHAHA. HAHAHAHAHA! Yes! My art prevailed!"-Deidara. Deidara was about to start walking away but was interrupted by a drop kick to his back.

Once Deidara landed he looked at Menma who now had his sharingan activated again. "How did you survive?"-Deidara. "Well it's quite simple, I didn't say this before but the sharingan can see much better than the naked eye. And I was easily able to see the bombs in my bloodstream. And being a sharingan user I was able to see that you mainly use earth hand seals, and my chidori is lightning jutsu, so you can do the math."-Menma.

Rereading this I just realized how smug Menma sounded while saying this, it's pretty ooc

Deidara realized where everything went wrong and looked back at Menma in his eyes. He glared at him with a disgusted look. "After all of this, you still have those same overconfident eyes that have no respect for my art! That's what I hate most about you and Itachi! You can't respect true art!"-Deidara.

Menma could have explained to him why he was so confident, but found that there wasn't much point in it sense one of them would die here. Deidara saw that his expression hadn't changed and got even more pissed off. He was about to yell but decided to take a deep breath.

He stood up and ripped his shirt off, revealing a strange tattoo over his heart that looked like a mouth. He grabbed the stitches on it and pulled them out and the tattoo looked like it came to life as it turned into a real mouth.

Deidara reached into his pouch and grabbed the last chunk of clay and fed it to the mouth. After he did that all of his veins started pulsating and he said, "This time I'm gonna detonate myself! My ultimate art!"-Deidara.

"You're insane."-Menma. "Hahaha! In death I will become the embodiment of art, it will be so magnificent that it will leave a scar on the earth itself! I'll receive endless admiration for my art while you'll be forgotten!"-Deidara.

Menma tried to stand up but fell back onto his knees. As Deidara's body started becoming transparent he said, "You won't be able to escape, this explosion covers 10km! Now tremble, be afraid, recoil in fear and despair, cower in awe, cry your heart out! Because my art... IS AN EXPLOSION!!!!"-Deidara.

Deidara's body turned into a black ball and the ball created a white beam in the sky that was spreading. Menma knew he wasn't going to escape and he looked over at Gaara's body. Menma looked at the last tso he had left and sent it over to Gaara's body to protect him. "I guess this is it then... I really can't do anything right can I?"-Menma.

The explosion spread out and enveloped both Menma the entire area. But while Menma was being swallowed by the explosion a toad showed up behind him and reverse summoned him.

Menma kept his eyes closed and realized he didn't feel anything, he looked up and saw Jiraiya and Gamabunta. He looked at the area around him and noticed how different it looked. He tried to stand up but feel back down. 'The gravity here is heavy.'-Menma. Menma also noticed that he wasn't injured anymore.

Menma felt something on his left arm and looked down. The mysterious seal on his arm felt funny and it looked like chakra was entering his body. He started noticing that his arm started swelling up into a toad shape and he quickly pulled it off the ground. When his arm stopped receiving chakra he accidentally shot it back out of his arm in a burst of chakra.

Gamabunta looked at him surprised. "He just absorbed nature chakra!"-Gamabunta. Jiraiya looked at him curiously and Menma asked, "What was that?"-Menma. "That isn't important now, I'll tell another time. But are you alright?"-Jiraiya.

"Yes, but what happened?"-Menma.

"I heard that you left the village so I decided to tag along with team Gai. And once I got a certain distance I summoned Gamabunta to help find you sense he can find anyone who signed the contract. And once I saw that you were about to die I had Gamabunta perform a reverse summon to bring you here."-Jiraiya.

Menma looked around and asked, "What is this place?"-Menma. "This is Mount Myoboku, this is the home of the toads. Now I would love to tell you more, but that can wait for another time, right now we need to go back to where Gaara's body is. Everyone is waiting for you there."-Jiraiya.

"We should go back now!"-Menma. Jiraiya nodded at Gamabunta and they were teleported back to where they were earlier.

Menma looked around and noticed he was in a huge crater. He also noticed that Team Gai, Kakashi, and a lot of sand shinobi were all in a circle surrounding something.

Menma stood up and walked over to them. Menma pushed past them and arrived in the middle to see Chiyo trying to heal Gaara. Menma walked up to her and asked her, "Is he alive?"-Menma.

Chiyo stood up with a look in her eye that told Menma all he needed to know. Menma looked at Gaara's body started to feel tears well up in his eyes.

"Damn it Gaara, you didn't deserve to die like this. Your the Kazekage! Everything was going to go back to normal!"-Menma. "Calm down Menma"-"SHUT UP!"-Menma yelled turning around looking back at Chiyo. "None if this would have ever happened if you didn't put that monster inside of Gaara! Did ever stop and ask how Gaara felt?!? Or even thought about it?!?!"-Menma. Menma sniffled and tried to wipe away some tears.

"Jinchuriki my ass. You have no right, to act so righteous labeling us with that word YOU CREATED!!!"-Menma. Menma got on his knees and continues to cry. "I can't save Kankuro, I can't save Temari, I can't save Gaara, and I can't save anyone! I've trained so hard these past couple of years but nothing's changed."-Menma.

Menma continued to cry and everyone looked on. They all wanted to help but didn't know what to say. Eventually Chiyo got up and walked past him towards Gaara's body. She laid down next to him and hovered her hands over his chest and a blue aura appeared on her hands.

"What are you doing? He's already dead."-Menma. "That isn't normal healing."-Neji. "Is that what I think it is?"-Gai. "Yeah, its THAT jutsu."-Kakashi.

Menma wiped away all of his tears and looked at them confused but figured out what they meant. Menma looked back at Chiyo and noticed she was breathing heavily and the blue light was becoming smaller.

"Not... enough... chakra."-Chiyo. The light was about to completely fade but she felt a pair of hands on top of hers. She looked up to see Menma. "Take my chakra."-Menma. Chiyosmiled at Menma and the blue aura started flaring.

Chiyo wasn't breathing heavily anymore but she was visually becoming more tired. "Out of this ninja world us old ninja created, I'm glad someone like you showed up. My whole life, has just been a bunch of mistakes. But I'm glad that the ending of it will be for something good." Chiyo smiled. "Kakashi told me a little bit about your mission you've been giving. And I just want to tell you, make sure you never give up, no matter how hard it gets you must bear the hardship and succeed... you have a fragile heart Menma, you must try to control your emotions, once you do you will become an unstoppable force, and then you'll always be able to keep your friends safe."-Chiyo.

After a few more seconds Gaara sat up and looked dazed. Menma put a hand on his shoulder and Gaara looked at him. "Gaara, your back!"-Menma. Menma brought Gaara into a hug and Gaara looked around and saw everyone that was there.

"This is..."-Gaara. "Everyone was worried about you, so they came to help."-Menma. Gaara still felt like he was in a dazed state and he heard, "Lord Gaara! Are you okay?"-Matsuri. Everyone held their breath and waited for him to answer. When he nodded his head in response everyone started cheering.

Matsuri ran towards him and Menma stood up. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to be met with Kakashi. "Thank you Menma."-Kakashi.

"If you want to thank anyone you should thank Chiyo." Menma looked at her. "She must be sleeping now, that jutsu must of used up all of her chakra."-Menma said with a smile.

Kakashi looked down for a second. "No, you're wrong."-Kakashi. Menma looked at him with a questioning look and asked, "What do you mean I'm wrong?"-Menma. "That jutsu she used was a reanimation jutsu. It let's you bring someone back to life at the cost of your own life."-Kakashi.

Menma looked back over at her body and activated his rinnegan. He saw that there was no chakra flow and he realized he was right. Menma felt sad for a moment but remembered what she said about him needing to not be so sad all the time. But then a thought crossed into his mind about what that Freya lady said earlier. "Your world doesn't have a heaven right now, all their doing is trying to fend off my husbands greed for power."-Freya.

Menma clenched his fist and promised himself, 'You told me that if I control my emotions I'll become the strongest there ever was. I promise I'll defeat Odin, and save you and everyone else!'-Menma. "Kakashi, I'm gonna go to sand village and bury her. After that I'm gonna start hunting down Orochimaru. I know Tsunade will punish me for it but it's something I have to do."-Menma.

Kakashi chuckled a bit, "Well Tsunade was intending to send you on that mission anyway. But before you do you should at least tell everyone back home that you're gonna leave."-Kakashi. Before Menma could say anything he felt an arm wrap around his shoulders. "Hey Menma, that Tsunade lady let me leave the village. So when are gonna get started on our quest?"-Suigetsu.

"I have to do something first in the sand village, but after that we can leave."-Menma. Suigetsu quickly backed up. "Woah the Sand village? That's a no go for me, I have to stay hydrated."-Suigetsu. Menma made a wooden canister and filled it with water he created. Suigetsu sighed and agreed to go.

While Menma followed Gaara and the sand ninja back to their village Menma sighed. 'Man, I really have a lot of things to do. I gotta hunt down Orochimaru, kill the Akatsuki, gain enough power to defeat Odin. Kill Odin. And then save everyone from the false heaven they're in... man it's like the universe just hates me. But Chiyo was right, I'm gonna have to work on my emotions, in my current state I'm a disgrace of a ninja.'-Menma.

Next chapter I'm gonna skip Chiyo's funeral and Menma's gonna go back to the village for a little while before leaving to go hunt down Orochimaru.

Not sure if everyone caught it but all of the guys who showed up In Front of the clones are all parts of Menma's split personality. There's gonna be a total of 7 and everyone has already seen the other 2.

Part of the next chapter will seem a little strange. It's gonna explore 5 or 6 of the personalities, but when I imagine it it sounds like it would be a filler episode. But I'll try it anyway.


	12. 7 Deadly Sins

Menma's eyes opened and he sat up. He stretched and stared out the window and saw that it was daytime. Menma smiled and thought, 'I was able to sleep the entire night this time.'-Menma.

Menma's 6 paths cloak flew onto him and he left his house. He went to the village gate and saw Suigetsu and Gaara waiting for him. He said his goodbyes to Gaara and ventured off to go back go the Leaf.

Leaf Village

"Uhhhhhh. Menma, when are we gonna leave?"-Suigetsu. "I've been ordered to visit the village before we leave. Then after that I promise I'll get you that sword."-Menma.

Menma and Suigetsu walked through the village gates and were welcomed by smiles. Menma looked at them questionably and kept on walking. They kept on walking down the road towards the Hokage mansion and saw some people talking. He walked past a stand and grabbed a newspaper. On the front page it read, "Truth Behind Uchiha Clan Massacre Revealed."

Menma smiled at the newspaper and gave it to a homeless man he walked past. Menma kept on walking but was interrupted by a woman being thrown into him.

Menma was dazed for a minute and heard, "You have enough clothes, you can't buy everything in the store!"-Man1. Menma wanted to get up but didn't feel like it. He felt like he was snuggling with a bear and felt too comfortable.

Menma dove his face further into it and felt a hard slap hit him. He came back to reality and looked up at a woman that looked similar to him, but with red hair, and a fur coat. Menma had a short flash of memories from his clones and remembered who this was. "Mina?"-Menma.

'Man she looks beautiful. Wait what am I saying?' Suigetsu returned to his normal rude self and said "You know this bimbo?"-Suigetsu. Mina looked at who said it and noticed how handsome he was. She decided to ignore his comment and looked at who she slapped. "Hey Menma! I'm so glad I finally get to meet you in person!"-Mina. "You seem so familiar, do I know you from somewhere?"-Menma.

Mina got off of him and bowed. "I'm Mina Uzumaki, and I'm you!"-Mina. "What do you mean your me?"-Menma. Mina looked a little disappointed but kept her joyful demeanor. She seeped her voice and said, "Do you remember Menma?"-Mina.

"It's impossible to forget about him. He's my split personality."-Menma. "Bingo! But you don't have only one personality, you have 6 others besides that one!"-Mina. Suigetsu sweat dropped, "That doesn't really sound like something to be proud of."-Suigetsu.

Mina pouted a little, "Ahhhh don't be like that, it's cooler than you think! But you have to meet the other 5!"-Mina. "Other 5? I thought you said there were 6."-Menma. "Well you already met Meneko. She's usually a pretty prideful person."-Mina. Menma looked confused. "When you used the sexy jutsu she was the one that came out."-Mina.

Menma understood now but felt confused again, "Wait, when she was out she didn't seem very prideful at all. She seemed pretty shy."-Menma. Mina giggled a little, "Well every time she's in your presence she gets like that. Maybe most of her pride moved from herself to having pride in you. Or maybe, she has a crush on yooooou."-Mina. Menma blushed a bit and stood up. "Well take me to the others, I'm gonna need to figure out what to do with them."-Menma.

Mina started running away and Menma and Suigetsu followed after them. "So who will be the easiest to find?"-Menma. "The easiest one to find will be the lazy Menma, and the envious Menma. The first one we'll go after is the lazy one. He'll probably be at your place."-Mina.

Once they got there Menma opened his door and entered. He sneaked down the hallway and peeked into his room. He saw the lazy Menma just sleeping there and he walked up to him.

Menma was gonna try to ask him some questions so he started kicking him. But he wouldn't wake up. Menma made a bat and started nudging him with it. But he was still in a deep sleep. Menma was getting impatient so he hit him with the bat once but he still didn't wake up. "Let me try."-Suigetsu. Suigetsu walked up to the sleeping Menma and opened his mouth. He made his hand water and stuck it in there. "Oh man this is disgusting."-Suigetsu.

Finally the lazy Menma woke up and looked at all of them. "Finally your awake! Now what I'm going to"- Menma was cut off by the lazy man going back to sleep. Menma stood there for a minute and looked at the other too for confirmation of what just happened. They nodded at him and Menma activated his rinnegan. He walked up to him and put his hand on his head and retracted it. He pulled the soul out of the lazy Menma and his body faded away.

As they all left the house to go to the next place Mina thought, 'Is that what he's gonna do to all of the personalities?'-Mina.

"So what's the next place?"-Menma. "Huh? Oh, right. Next we'll go to the Hokage mansion. The envious Menma will be there."-Mina.

As they were heading there they were interrupted by some of Menma's friends. "Hey guys! How are you doing?"-Menma. Menma walked up to all of the rookie 9 and Neji started walking towards him.

"Hey, why are Tenten and Ino cry"- Menma was cut off by a gentle fist strike to the gut. "What is wrong with you Menma? Why would you do that?!?"-Neji. Menma coughed and Suigetsu spoke for him. "We don't know what you're talking about. Menma has been with us all day."-Suigetsu. Mina walked in front of Suigetsu and in front of Neji. "Was the Menma you saw earlier wearing a red jacket and walking around with a cane?"-Mina.

Neji looked at her a little confused and thought, 'Does Menma have a sister?' But he quickly answered the question, "Yeah, he came here earlier and started flirting with the girls. And when he got too close Tenten slapped him away so he hit her with the cane."-Neji. Mina looked disappointed. "Uh, Menma is such a dick. But just so you know that was a different Menma, I've been helping Menma hunt them down today. If you see a Menma walking around make sure you come tell us."-Mina.

Neji and everyone else was confused a bit but complied. Menma stood up and walked towards Ino, Tenten, and everyone else. "Come on guys, you know me. Do you really think I would do something like that? You all know I would die 5 times over for all of you."-Menma. The girls wiped away their tears and nodded at Menma. "Don't worry, I'll catch that asshole."-Menma. Menma and the other 2 all started continuing towards the Hokage mansion.

Once they got there Menma was walking down corridors and checking rooms. He opened one door and saw Kotetsu and Izumo holding hands. Menma looked at them with a questioning look and they quickly retracted their hands. "Don't worry, we said no homo."-Izumo. Menma smiled at his homies in relief and closed the door.

Menma arrived at the Hokage's office and opened the door. When he entered the room he saw Cluticus talking to Tsunade. "I'm telling you, I need that clout. Tell everyone to listen to my mixtape!"-Clouticus. "I already told you, its trash! Now get out of my office!"-Tsunade. Menma cleared his throat to amend his presence known and Clouticus teleported away.

"That's the Menma of greed. But he nicknamed himself that stupid name."-Mina. "Hey Menma, people have told me you've been causing some trouble lately."-Tsunade. "It's not me, they're all fake me's."-Menma. Mina was a little offended by the word fake but didn't say anything.

Tsunade understood and said, "I see, well then you should find them they can cause permanent damage to your name."-Tsunade. Menma looked a little confused and asked, "You believe me?"-Menma. "Listen Menma, I've seen a lot of crazy things in my life. People running around looking and sounding like someone they aren't is pretty low on the list of weird things I've seen. But if you want to talk to one of the Menma's then go see Shizune in the next room over. She's Talking to this really sad guy who just won't stop envying every aspect of our lives."-Tsunade.

They all nodded and Suigetsu went for the exit first. But before he could open the door he was knocked away when the door slammed open and a Menma with a pimp like look walked in.

"Hokage! You really need to open up more where houses in this vill"- Menma was cut off when he opened his eyes and looked at Tsunade. His eyes widened and he started talking to myself, "Oh I'm getting my dick wet tonight."-Menma.

"My God woman! Those gotta be the biggest tits I've seen in my whole life! You tryna let me relieve you of some of the stress this job causes?"-Menma. Tsunade had a tick mark on her forehead and stood up.

"Do you know who you're speaking to? You better take that back before I make you regret it brat!"-Tsunade. Menma looked a little annoyed and said, "Aight hoe. I don't know who da FUCK you think you talking to like that, I should beat you with this cane for stepping out of your place like that. But you bad, so I'll forgive you if you get on those knees right now and start sucking, but if you don't we gonna have some problems."-Menma.

After he said that everything was silent white noise. Even Suigetsu didn't say anything. He found Tsunade intimidating but at the same time he was trying to hold back a laugh. 'Damn, you are fucked man.'-Suigetsu. 'I guess I won't have to worry about absorbing this one.'-Menma. 'I can't even be sad about this one dying, he really just has it coming.'-Mina.

Tsunade's chakra started intensifying and all 3 of them took this as a sign to run out of the room. But Menma stayed and looked at her with a lustful look on his face.

The 3 of them opened the door to the room that Shizune was in and they all heard a loud cracking sound in the room over, they weren't sure if it was the wooden door or his bones but it didn't matter. 'I can't even feel bad for him. He was really just a shitty guy.'-Menma.

Shizune turned away from Menema and looked at them. "What was that sound just now?"-Shizune. Menma waved her off, "It was nothing. Just something breaking. But who's that?"-Menma. "Well at first I thought he was you, but he acts so sad all the time."-Shizune.

Menma took a good look at him and felt threatened by him in a strange way. 'This is the envious me... out of all of these personalities... this is the one that holds the most true and is most hidden.' Menma took a deep breath, "Yeah, he technically is me. That's why I came to see him."-Menma. Menma activated his rinnegan and walked up to him. He placed his hand on his head. "Hey, what are you doing?"-Shizune. Shizune looked on in curiosity and saw Menema fade away.

"What just happened?"-Shizune. "Well he was literally a part of him, and Menma just erased- I mean took him back."-Suigetsu. Shizune was still confused and Mina walked out of the room. Menma didn't want to lose her so he started walking after her.

Suigetsu saw them leave and asked, "Hey, where are you going?"-Suigetsu. "Don't worry, we won't be long."-Menma. Suigetsu sighed in annoyance and started explaining to Shizune what happened.

Menma looked both ways down the hall and saw Mina turn the corner. He chased after her and jumped over the crater in the floor. "Hey Mina, what are you doing?"-Menma.

Mina stopped walking away and stayed where she was. "What are we to you Menma?"-Mina. Menma felt confused and asked, "What do you mean?"-Menma.

Mina turned around and Menma saw a tear In her eye. "I'm talking about us! The other 7 personalities. Clouticus, Meneko, the lazy Menma, Menema, and me! Just what are we to you? We're people too ya know!"-Mina. Menma was taken back by what she said and Mina continued. "You and everyone else might look at us as effects of a mental disorder. But we feel just like you ya know, we have our own feelings and thoughts too. So what gives you the right to just take that away from us??!"-Mina.

Menma remained silent and Mina yelled, "Say something!"-Mina. Menma looked her in the eyes and he saw something familiar. He saw himself when he was a kid, how the villagers looked down at him like he was nothing even though he had feelings just like them. And Menma realized, in this situation he was the villager. "I don't know what to say... I never thought about it from your point of view. I guess I was just being selfish and trying to preserve my social image."-Menma responded looking down. Mina wiped away her tears and said, "So what are you gonna do now huh? Once you find Clouticus and dealt with him your just gonna erase me too?"-Mina.

Menma took a step forward and said, "N-no, of course not!"-Menma. "Why not huh? You did it to all of the other ones, I'm just another mistake right?"-Mina. "No, no. None of you are mistakes..."-Menma. "Well what are we then."-Mina asked in a calm voice.

Menma was silent for a second but responded, "You're all people too. You've opened my eyes to that, it's just sad that I didn't see it before... but just to let you know. I absorbed their souls, but sense it's happened recently they still exist, so I can send them somewhere they can fit in."-Menma.

Mina's facial expression glowed up. "Really?" But then she had a question she was afraid to ask, "But, what do you intend to do with me once you've taken care of Clouticus?"-Mina.

Menma walked up to her and held her hands, "You can stay as long as you want."-Menma told her with a bright smile. Mina made a genuine smile at his answer and tackled him to the ground with a hug. Suigetsu turned the corner and looked at them. "Did I come at a bad time?"-Suigetsu asked jokingly.

They both separated and stood up. "No, we're fine. But we should go now. We don't need Clouticus causing any trouble."-Menma.

5 Minutes Later

While they were walking down the road Mina was itching to ask Menma something. Menma noticed her anxiousness and asked her, "Is there something you want to ask me?"-Menma. "Can I have your clothes?"-Mina.

Menma took a minute to process the question and when it hit him he flinched, "What do you mean have my clothes?!?"-Menma. Mina felt a little embarrassed. "Well not all of your clothes, just the sage cloak. I love the design!"-Mina.

Menma felt less awkward and made a tso. He manifested a sage cloak and gave it to her. She squealed in response and took her for coat off. She sealed away the fur coat and quickly slipped on the cloak. She buttoned it up and started moving in circles to get a feel for it. "So how do I look?"-Mina.

Menma and Suigetsu looked at it and it looked like it pressed against her skin tightly, but it looked comfortable at the same time. "It really puts emphasis on all the right places."-Suigetsu.

Mina was a little shocked by the blunt comment and blushed in embarrassment. "Well you asked what I think."-Suigetsu.

They continued walking and arrived at where all of their friends were before. "Hey everyone, did you see a guy that looks like me walking around?"-Menma.

Everyone there looked like they just went through a weird experience and looked up at him. "Uh, yeeeaaahhh. We just saw a guy that looked like you that was trying to make us listen to his soundcloud music."-Shikamaru. Kiba shuddered, "It was so bad."-Kiba.

"Well where did he go?"-Menma. "I had a bug follow him, he's in your house right now."-Shino. Menma thanked him and started running back home.

5 Minutes Later

Once Menma arrived he slowly opened the front door. He walked into the living room and looked around. He saw a purple bottle on the table that was labeled "Lean".

They all looked around and checked some rooms but didn't find him. Menma was about to leave to look for him elsewhere but got an idea. "And if you ain't a hoe."-Menma. "Get up out my trap house! Shit!"-Clouticus.

Clouticus ran out of his hiding spot and ran out of the house. "After him!"-Menma. They started chasing after him and they arrived onto the open street.

They were all running down the street and both Suigetsu and Mina went in different directions. Menma made a shadow clone and had it run into an alley.

Clouticus kept on running and knocked away a newsstand which cause his airpods to fall out. "No! They aren't supposed to fall out!"-Clouticus. Clouticus started looking around him and could hear everyone talking amongst themselves. He started having an anxiety attack, "N-no, I can hear all of the peasants. Th-their brokenness is ma-making my ears Bleeeed!!!"-Clouticus.

Menma jumped high I to the sky and tried to attack Clouticus but Clouticus made a few hand signs and his Rolex flew off of his arm and grew in size. "Flex Style: Icy Wrist!"-Clouticus. The watch temporarily blinded Menma and he fell onto the ground.

Clouticus saw that Menma was dazed and turned into an alleyway. He started running to the other side of the alley but was stopped by Suigetsu who held his hands in a gun shape. "Bang!"-Suigetsu.

Suigetsu shot water out of his fingers and Clouticus flew back into Mina who was on the other side of the Alley. She threw him into the middle of the alley and he stood back up.

"No! My Gucci shirt!"-Clouticus. Clouticus looked above him and tried to jump onto the roofs. But when he did he got caught in tight wires.

Menma floated off of the roof and put his hand on Clouticus's head. Clouticus faded away and Menma landed on the ground.

"Alright, now that that's done I just need to find a dimension for them to stay."-Menma. "What do you mean by dimension?"-Suigetsu. "Oh that's right, I'd didn't tell you yet. It's a part of my Kamui ability. The Kamui dimension isn't the only one I can travel too, it's just that traveling to another dimension uses up a lot more chakra than the other sharingans abilities already do."-Menma.

"Well sense when could you do that?"-Suigetsu. "I did it by accident while I was training with Jiraiya. I was refining my Kamui's traveling abilities and I accidentally went to this weird place. I saw people there. They also had chakra, but their chakra control was crazy! They didn't have to make any hand seals, they could just make a fist and fire, water, or air would come out! They could also use earth style just by lifting their arms!"-Menma.

"Uh huh, sounds like a nice place. But since we took care of the problem here shouldn't we start moving?"-Suigetsu.

Menma contemplated for a second. "Before we go I want to talk to Jiraiya. Orochimaru is powerful and almost impossible to kill. I think I might want to learn how to use chakra."chakra."-Menma.

Suigetsu made a loud groan of disappointment. Menma walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder and said, "I feel like I haven't been very fair to you. We've done so much so far but we really haven't done anything at all yet. So, I got you this."-Menma told him as he reached his hand into the Kamui dimension and pulled out KubikiribÅ chÅ .

Suigetsu's eyes lit up and he quickly accepted the blade. "Thanks Menma! Out of the 7 blades this is the one that I intended to have for personal use."-Suigetsu. "I'm glad you like it. But I'm gonna have to leave for awhile now. Try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone."-Menma.

Suigetsu had a mischievous smirk on his face and waved at Menma as he left to go to the nearest hot spring. Once he turned the corner Suigetsu started heading to the nearest bar. Not for a drink, but to have some fun.

Mina noticed the devious smirk on his face and grabbed him by the shirt. "Oh no you don't! I know what you're going to do and I'm telling you, don't do it."-Mina. Suigetsu groaned and said, "Ok, I won't use the sword, but come on! I haven't done anything actually fun since I got here."-Suigetsu.

Mina sighed, "Fine, but I'm staying with you to make sure you don't do anything too stupid."-Mina. Suigetsu accepted the terms and they both walked off.

Back To Menma

Menma traversed through the fields and walked up to Kakashi who was walking away from the memorial stone. "Hey Kakashi! I have a gift for you!"-Menma.

Kakashi looked back and responded, "A gift you say? What is it?"-Kakashi. Menma reached into the Kamui dimension and pulled out a book.

"WHAAAAAAA! Thi- this is..."-Kakashi. "This is Jiraiya's newest addition to the Icha Icha series, he hasn't published it yet."-Menma said holding out the book. Kakashi quickly accepted the book and turned to the 1st page. His face looked like it was glowing and Menma asked, "Why do you like these books so much anyway?"-Menma.

Kakashi started looking like he was dancing and said, "To put it bluntly, this level of drama, fluttering of the heart, burning tragedy, the evil secrets, and the burning love of a man and a woman is truly wonderful!"-Kakashi.

"Uh huh, sounds great. Well should go now, I have something I need to do."-Menma said as he started walking away, and Kakashi continued to read his book like he was in a trance.

Menma walked through the locker room of the hot spring and flew above the water. He cleared his throat to make himself known but he got no response.

Menma groaned and thought, 'So I'm gonna have to do this again huh?'-Menma. Menma took a deep breath and yelled, "HEY OLD MAN STOP STARING AT THOSE WOMEN!!"-Menma. All of the women on the other side noticed Jiraiya and quickly got out.

"No! Please come back!"-Jiraiya. Jiraiya looked back at Menma and scowled at him. "What do you want?"-Jiraiya. "I want you to take me to Mt. Myoboku and teach me how to use sage chakra."-Menma.

Jiraiya had a surprised look on his face but then he smiled. "I was wondering when you were going to ask me. But before we go I want you to tell me what you know about sage jutsu."-Jiraiya.

Menma thought for a second then answered, "Well I know it amplifies your sensory abilities by a big margin, and I also know it now involves utilizing outside energy so you don't get tired, but that's it."-Menma.

Jiraiya chuckled a little, "Ah, you have much to learn. And Fukasaku will teach you everything."-Jiraiya. "You're not gonna teach me?"-Menma.

Jiraiya face got a little serious and he responded, "Although it might not seem like it, I'm actually very busy. I do reconnaissance missions spying on enemies of the village, particularly the Akatsuki. Within the next couple of months I'm gonna have to go to the Hidden Rain Village."-Jiraiya.

Menma made an understanding look and said, "Ok, I get it. Well can we go now?"-Menma. Jiraiya was about to summon a toad for a reverse summoning but had another question, "Why do you want to learn sage jutsu?"-Jiraiya.

"I intend to use it to aid me in hunting down Orochimaru. I would assume he knows everything about the sharingan, so I will need something else to fight him."-Menma.

Jiraiya had a mixed expression, "Remember what I taught you Menma. Even though Orochimaru deserves the worst for what he did you must remember to not let hate consume you, your the child of prophecy after all."-Jiraiya.

Menma clenched his fist and said, "After all he's done, how could I not hate him?"-Menma. "I understand that, but we will never achieve peace in this world unless we can all understand each others struggles... just... when you cut him down, do it out of a sense of moral duty, not out of hatred."-Jiraiya.

Menma thought for a second and said, "I'll try my best Jiraiya."-Menma. Jiraiya was satisfied and summoned Gamakichi and had him perform a reverse summon.

Menma looked around him and felt the familiar strong gravity of the place. Fukasaku walked up to them and greeted them. "Jiraiya boy! It's been a long time since you've visited."-Fukasaku. Fukasaku looked next to Jiraiya and noticed Menma. "Is that the boy Gamakichi told me about?"-Fukasaku.

Jiraiya nodded and Fukasaku took in his appearance. "He doesn't look like much."-Fukasaku. Menma flinched at the comment and stroked back, "Hey! Who are you talking to you geezer frog??!"-Menma.

Jiraiya chuckled, "You're already getting along."-Jiraiya. "Why did you bring him here?"-Fukasaku. "I want you to train him sage jutsu."-Jiraiya. Fukasaku was surprised and asked, "Where did this come from?"-Fukasaku.

"He intends on embarking on a mission to hunt down Orochimaru. Now I'm sure you know he's gonna need all the help he can get to fight someone as slippery and as skilled as that."-Jiraiya.

Fukasaku understood and remained silent. "Anyways, I'm gonna have to go another mission soon, so I'm gonna have to leave now."-Jiraiya.

Fukasaku was about to send Jiraiya back but he asked him one more question, "Next time you come here you really should finish your sage training."-Fukasaku. Jiraiya waved him off, "I don't know, I might."-Jiraiya.

Fukasaku grunted and accepted the answer then sent him back to Konoha. He turned back to Menma and said, "Well before we start we should eat, come on Shima has already made dinner."-Fukasaku. "Alright! I haven't eaten all day!"-Menma said as he started following Fukasaku to his home.

Once they got there Menma sat down at the table and was waiting for his food. Menma looked happy when he saw Shima hopping over to him and she set down his bowl in front of him.

"Alright! Time to dig I"- Menma took a close look at the bowl and realized it was all different types of bugs inside of it.

Menma recoiled and said, "I think I lost my appetite."-Menma. Fukasaku finished swallowing a Caterpillar and said, "Come on Menma, you can't train on an empty stomach.

Menma looked back down at his food and gulped before picking up one of the insects. He quickly started chewing on it and swallowed. He had to hold back from gagging and he thought, 'Why is it so crunchy?'-Menma.

Back to Suigetsu and Mina

The 2 of them kicked the bar door open and walked in. Everyone was silent and they briefly looked at them. Specifically Mina. But they all quickly went back to minding their own business.

They walked towards the bar and the bartender asked, "Do you want anything?" Suigetsu asked, "Water and sake."-Suigetsu. The bartender looked towards Mina and she said, "Just Water."-Mina.

The bartender walked away and Mina asked, "You drink?"-Mina. Suigetsu looked at her and responded with, "No, of course not."-Suigetsu. "Well then why are you getting sake?"-Mina. Suigetsu looked down at the counter and laughed under his breath. "You'll see."-Suigetsu.

Mina looked at him suspiciously and ordered, "If your so intent on fighting at least make it look like you were the one provoked so we don't get into a lot of trouble."-Mina. Suigetsu waved her off and said, "Of course, I know that. I'm not stupid."-Suigetsu.

Mina scoffed and said, "Yes you are."-Mina. Before Suigetsu could say anything the bartender arrived with his drinks and said, "Enjoy." Suigetsu gave him a smile and said, "You too."-Suigetsu.

The bartender walked away and gave him a weird look. Suigetsu just realized what he said and Mina smiled at him. "Ok, I might be just a little stupid."-Suigetsu.

But before Mina could say anything though 3 guys walked up to them and stood around Mina. And the 3rd guy stood next to Suigetsu.

The first guy introduced, "Hello, my name is Akiro, Akihiko, and this is Akifumi. And what's your name lil lady?"-Akiro.

"Hello, I'm Suigetsu, and this is Mina. She's kinda shy."-Suigetsu. Mina glared at Suigetsu and Akiro said, "Hey buddy, was I talking to you?"-Akiro.

Suigetsu gave him an indifferent glance and turned back to his water. "Hey friend, is this your girl?"-Akifumi. Suigetsu ignored him and took a sip of his water.

Akifumi got mad and slapped the glass out of his mouth. Suigetsu had an annoyed expression that signalled he was losing patience and Akifumi said, "I asked you. Is. That. Your. Girl?"-Akifumi.

Suigetsu forced a fake smile on his face and responded, "You could say that."-Suigetsu.

All 3 of the men laughed and Akihiko asked, "Is this true missy? Is this scrawny guy your man?"-Akihiko. Mina shot him a glare and said, "I have a name ya know!"-Mina.

The men laughed again and Akiro put on a hand on her shoulder and said, "Ah, you got sass. I like a little sass in a girl. Remember how we handled the last girl that gave us sass Akifumi?"-Akiro.

"Haha, yeah how could I forget brother?"-Akifumi. Mina tried to pull her arm away from Akiro and Akihiko put they grabbed it tighter.

After Suigetsu got done checking if he looked scrawny he was about to start fighting but a skinny man walked up to them and said, "Hey, "Stop treating that lady like that!" Akiro turned towards the guy and released Mina's arm. Mina rubbed her arm and Akiro walked towards the man and the skinny man could now see the muscular forms of all 3 of the men and he regretted what he said.

Akiro gave him a deathly stare and asked, "You got a problem kid?"-Akiro. The skinny man just stood there in fear under his gaze and finally spat out, "N-no s-sir. I didn't say anything!"

Akiro looked at him for a few more seconds and started laughing. It started as a low chuckle but grew into loud bellowing that all of his brothers joined in with. Eventually the skinny man joined in the laughing and Akiro grabbed his shoulder in a friendly matter before headbuttting in his nose and dropping the man onto the ground.

Mina gasped in shock and the man started rolling on the ground with a bloody nose and tears. Suigetsu looked at the poor guy and his indifferent nature dropped a little.

Akiro walked back over to Mina and grabbed her again. He pulled out a pocket knife from his pocket and spoke to Mina in a low tone, "Now, what we're gonna do is walk out of this bar and your coming with us."-Akiro.

The bartender looked at them and asked, "Hey, what do you think you're doin"- he was cut off by the deathly gazes of all the men and he quickly walked away. Akrio continued, "Now if you try to scream we're gonna kill both you and your boyfriend right there, do you understand."-Akiro.

Mina usually wouldn't be this intimidated by this situation but she started having flashbacks to back when Menma was absorbing the other Menma's and thought, 'I don't want to stop existing.'-Mina. She looked up at the men and told them, "I understand."-Mina.

Suigetsu looked at her with an awestruck look and he started getting angry. 'Man this is really out of character for me to get mad.'-Suigetsu.

Akifumi noticed that Suigetsu tensed up and pulled out his pocket knife. "You gonna do something buddy? Cause if you do we'll kill you."-Akifumi.

Suigetsu calmed down some and took a deep breath. He fashioned himself with a smile that had a hint of sadism in it and he told Akifumi, "Ya know, you're really starting to push me off, how about you just you take that blade and stick it up your ass?"-Suigetsu.

Akifumi was surprised from the snarky comment but then he got mad. He flipped open the blade and yelled, "Why yoooou." He firmly grasped the blade and slammed it into Suigetsu's neck, and it went right through it like a liquid.

Suigetsu laughed a little and told him, "Big mistake." Before taking the blade from his hand and stabbing him in the stomach. First he did it once, then twice, all the way up to 32 times. Suigetsu continued to laugh as he cut into the man over in over and eventually the man dropped to the floor. "Brother! You're gonna pay for that!"-Akihiko.

Suigetsu turned around and saw not just the 2 brothers but saw that everyone else in the bar got into a defensive position. Suigetsu laughed and thought 'Man I love cutting things.' Before running at the 2 remaining brothers and stabbing both of them in their arteries, which caused both of them to collapse to the floor and slowly bleed out internally.

Suigetsu looked back at everyone else and saw that they all looked ready to fight. Suigetsu was about to run at them but felt a hand grab his. Suigetsu looked back at who grabbed him and saw Mina who just recovered from her frightful memories and who had a tear running down her cheek. And she said, "Please don't kill them."-Mina.

Suigetsu could feel the pain in her voice and felt compelled to obey and dropped the blade onto the ground. He started walking towards everyone else in the bar with the intent to knock them unconscious and they all started fighting.

While they were all fighting Mina stood up and walked over to the 2 brothers on the ground that were slowly dying. She glared at them and they simply stared back at her. They tried to say something but there was too much blood in their mouths. Mina looked behind herself and picked up the knife that was on the counter.

Mina kneeled down next to Akihiko first. She brought the blade up to his throat, and slowly pushed down. The blade pierced his skin and slowly it dived deeper into his flesh. Blood started coming out of his neck and he started choking on his own blood. After a while he stopped moving and she moved on the Akiro.

She looked him In the eyes as he glared at her and she told him, "You won't end my existence." As she took the blade and positioned it in front of his dick before slamming it into his urethra. She heard loud unbearable muffled screams one from him and she dug deeper into his genitals.

She pulled out the blade and it was drenched in blood. She took the blade and positioned next to his balls. He knew what she was gonna do and he started shaking his head rapidly. But she didn't listen and she cut off his already mutilated dick.

At this point she wasn't aware of her own actions and stuck his decapitated dick in his own mouth which stopped him from screaming. She stood up and watched him as he slowly choked to death.

After he finally died she snapped back to reality and looked at her hands. She just realized what she did and she shrieked. She felt like she lost her balance and she got on her knees.

She curled up into a ball and started crying. Suigetsu heard her cries and looked over to where she was. He quickly performed a Water Style:Water Dragon Jutsu and ran over to her to comfort her.

He wrapped his hands around her and told her, "Hey Mina calm down. It's all over now."-Suigetsu. "But, what I just did!"-Mina. "Hey Hey Hey, it doesn't matter. Calm down."-Suigetsu. She hugged him back for comfort and they both sat there among the 60 or so bodies of unconscious men. 'Damn why do I care so much?'-Suigetsu thought in an annoyed tone.

I'm not sure about how I wrote the personalities, I feel like this chapter was kinda bad since I didn't expand much on them. I didn't expand on them sense most of them won't be coming back, but when I think about this it almost feels like a filler episode, but it's been awhile since I've made a chapter so I'll post it anyway.


	13. Becoming A Sage

"What do you mean I have to die?!? I don't want to literally become one with nature!"-Menma. "Gamakichi, what's with the death? You aren't actually gonna die Menma."-Fukasaku.

"What's gonna happen then?"-Menma. "Let me explain. Absorbing nature energy means the ability to sense it and draw it into you. In addition to mastering sage absorption you'll be able to fully control the nature energy energy entering and leaving your body. In other words, sit still."-Fukasaku.

Menma had a confused look and asked, "Like meditation?"-Menma. "Something like that. Come over here to this waterfall."-Fukasaku.

Fukasaku started hopping away and Menma followed behind him until they reached the waterfall. "Naturally learning how to even sense Nature energy would take a whole month, but do you see this waterfall?" Menma nodded and Fukasaku continued, "This is toad oil, give me your arm."-Fukasaku.

Menma complied and he started rubbing the oil on his wrist. "This sacred oil allows nature energy to open your body much easier, and soon you'll be able to sense nature energy within a few days."-Fukasaku.

Menma's arm felt funny and he told him, "Yeah, I can already feel it."-Menma. "Yes, after awhile you won't even have to use the oil, but there is a risk."-Fukasaku.

Fukasaku let go of his arm and Menma looked down at it to see that it looked to see that it was bloated and had warts on it. "But when one who is inexperienced in using sage chakra absorbs it, they start to turn into a frog."-Fukasaku.

When Menma saw his arm he stood up and started running around. "AAAAHHH, I'M TURNING INTO A FROG!!! TURN ME BACK, TURN ME BACK!"-Menma.

He stopped running around after Fukasaku hit huh I'm with a staff and he reverted back to normal. "It's all about balance, for ninjutsu you rely on physical and spiritual energy, but now you must add nature energy to the mix. If you absorb a small amount, and the sage jutsu won't work, but take in too much, and you'll turn into a frog."-Fukasaku stated looking in the direction of all the frog statues.

Menma followed where his eyes went and he had a cold sweat. Fukasaku decided to lighten the mood and said, "But don't worry, those with an enormous amount of chakra have an easier time learning it. Besides, if I notice you are absorbing too much chakra I'll just use this baton to knock the chakra out of you."-Fukasaku.

Menma gave him a reluctant nod and got into a meditation position to start his training.

Hokage Mansion

"I see, so they even got Chiruki huh?"-Tsunade. The man was sweating and responded, "I was out on patrol, but by the time I got back I was too late."

"It must have been those Akatsuki guys, they must be searching different landmarks in the Land of Fire to try and find the 9 tails Jinchuriki."-Shizune.

"That's strange, they must think Menma still has him somehow... either way, we must send not let them out of the Land of Fire, contact the 20 newly formed platoons immediately!"-Tsunade.

Back To Menma

Ow. Ow. Ow! OOOOWWW!"-Menma shouted as all of his clones dispelled and he fell to the ground. "Hahaha, Menma this isn't a game of whack a mole, I won't be able to keep up."-Fukasaku.

Menma looked up at him with a swollen face and was about to say something but was cut off by another strike from the baton. "My face is swollen because you keep on hitting it!"-Menma.

Fukasaku took a deep breath and said, "No matter, its break time."-Fukasaku. Gamakichi hopped over with a few trays and Fukasaku set down Menma's food in front of him. Menma looked at it reluctance but started eating nonetheless.

5 Minutes Later

Menma took the last bite out of his food and thought, 'Man, I feel less human already. That actually tasted kind of good.'-Menma. "Alright! Time to get back to training!"-Fukasaku.

Menma got back into his training position and started concentrating. After a little while he started to feel an indescribable feeling. It was like a refreshing breeze, but it felt static and energetic.

Small orange pigments started circling Menma's eyes and he opened his eyes. Fukasaku looked at him in surprise and said, "Congratulations, you've achieved the rank of imperfect sage."-Fukasaku.

Menma gained a foxy grin on his face and shot up and started praising himself. Once he was done Fukasaku ordered, "Now come over here, I want you to raise this stone frog. But first try it using only ninjutsu chakra."-Fukasaku.

Menma complied and started walking towards the frog. Once he reached it he molding chakra throughout his body and tried to lift up the frog.

After a few seconds the frog wouldn't move and Fukasaku was gonna tell him to stop, but the ground started vibrating under Menma and the frog slowly started rising. Menma kept on lifting it for a few more seconds until it rose above his waist, then his shoulders, and then the frog was lifted above his head.

Fukasaku and Gamakichi looked on in awe and Menma set the frog back down. Fukasaku came back to reality and thought, 'His chakra control must be incredibly good to be able to do something like this!' "Great work Menma, but now try it with sage chakra."-Fukasaku.

Menma nodded and started channeling sage chakra. Some bumps appeared on his skin and he had orange pigments around his eyes. He put his hands on the stone frog and started lifting it. Within a few seconds it was lifted off of the ground and Menma set it back down.

"Good job Menma, we're gonna call it a day, tomorrow you're gonna start training without the oil."-Fukasaku.

Tomorrow Morning With Asuma

Asuma, Izumo, Kotetsu, and Shikamaru were walking up the stone steps of a recently destroyed temple, and once they reached the top they were greeted by a man who asked them, "You're from the Hidden Leaf Village right?"

"Yes, we were contacted by the monk who is in your care."-Asuma. "Let me introduce myself, I am the head monk of this temple, I was away for awhile, and when I heard about what happened I rushed back. And I was greeted by I terrible sight." The man stated as he signalled them to follow.

They followed behind him and their eyes were met with countless coffins. "This is horrible."-Shikamaru. Asuma's eyes searched around and he asked, "Where's Chiriku's body?"-Asuma.

The monk looked down and said, "We weren't able to find his body, we suspect his body has been taken."

Asuma thought for a second and Izumo spoke up, "Apparently Chiriku has a 30 million to bounty on his head."-Izumo. Shikamaru turned towards them and said, "So he must have been taken to a collection office. Where's the nearest one?"-Shikamaru.

Izumo pulled out a map and said, "There are 5 in the area, we'll go to the nearest one, and I'll send out messenger birds to the other squads to search the others."-Izumo. "Alright then, let's go!"-Asuma.

"Wait, there are only 4 other teams, so why'd you send out a 5th bird?"-Shikamaru.

"Izumo smirked and said, "It's a friend Lady Tsunade told us to call."-Izumo. Shikamaru accepted the answer and they started leaving. "We'll pray for you." The monk stated. And after that last statement Asuma and his squad disappeared.

Over To Itachi And Kisame

Both Itachi and Kisame were walking down a dirt path when a messenger bird flew towards them. Itachi's eyes were sharper than Kisame's and he saw the insignia for "Fire" on it , so he quickly took the letter before Kisame could.

He read the letter and saw that it was from a Leaf ninja. Apparently 2 Akatsuki members were in the Land of Fire searching for the 9 Tails Jinchuriki, and she already sent out teams to find them. The leaf ninja wants him to go to the Post Office nearest to the Temple of Fire.

Itachi sighed and thought, 'I guess it's time to make my first move.'-Itachi. Itachi changed the direction he was walking in and Kisame asked him, "Where are you going?"-Kisame.

Itachi didn't look back and said, "I have to go meet up with a contact."-Itachi. Kisame was skeptical but accepted the answer.

Hidan And Kakazu

The immortal duo was on their way to the post office when Kakazu suddenly stopped walking. "I've been carrying him for awhile now, how about you carry him?"-Kakazu.

Hidan looked back and said, "No way, killing for money is against the law of Jashin remember? Carrying him would mean I'm associating, it's your kill anyway."-Hidan said at he kept on walking.

Kakazu made an angry grunt and continued walking. "I'm gonna kill you one of these days."-Kakazu. "Ahhh, don't be like that."-Hidan.

Mt. Myoboku With Menma

Menma was sitting high above the stone frog statues and was currently training without the toad oil. He started transforming and Fukasaku hit him with the baton.

"This is a lot harder without the oil."-Menma. "Of course it is, don't expect it to be so easy without the oil!"-Fukasaku. Menma looked at him and simply put his head down.

Fukasaku sighed and said, "But the way you transform so quickly, even though you've already achieved the rank of imperfect sage in such a short amount of time you seem to lack concentration."-Fukasaku.

Menma looked back with a surprised look and said, "Why would I lack concentration? I've created my own jutsu, and my mind is one of the sharpest in the village."-Menma.

Fukasaku thought and said, "Have you had anything on your mind lately? Something that's been troubling you?"-Fukasaku.

Menma thought and said, "There's always something troubling me. Maybe it's the other personalities I have."-Menma.

This peaked Fukasaku's interest and he asked, "Well how many do you have, and what is a defining feature of them? And how do you think they've formed?"-Fukasaku.

"Well at first I had 7, but now I only have 1 other. The first one was a Menma that bore a lot of wraith inside of him, the only thing he cared about was harming others. And I think I got him from my overwhelming hate for the villagers in the past. But he's gone now, and I've formed a special kind of partnership with him to keep him away."-Menma.

"The next I learned about is one called Meneko, apparently she is usually very boastful and prideful around people but is shy when I am in view. She's still here."-Menma.

"The next one is the one called Clouticus, he seemed greedful in a way, and I'm honestly not sure where he came from, possibly a need for more power after my conversation with the wrathful Menma, but he's gone."-Menma.

"The next is the lustful Menma. I might have subconsciously created him from all those times I've had to read Jiraiya's books, mostly involuntary. But he's gone."-Menma.

"There's also the lazy Menma, I must have got him from how laid back I was before the chunin exams... back then I was too care free." The mood seemed to darken some but Menma quickly put an easily seen through smile on his face and said, "But he's gone too."-Menma.

"Then there's Mina, I think her dominant trait is gluttony. But she seems serious when she wants too. She's not inside me anymore but she sticks around. Also she seems to look at Suigetsu in a weird way, might be because of the teeth. But anyways I must have got her from how powerful I felt right after I received the Sage of the 6 Paths chakra."-Menma.

Fukasaku gasped in surprise and asked to reconfirm, "Did you just say the Sage of The Six Paths?!"-Fukasaku. This answered a lot of questions, like how quickly he was able to grasp the concept of Sage Jutsu, and how he was able to lift the stone frog without sage chakra.

Menma was surprised by his reaction but then had an embarrassed laugh, "Hahaha... oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I met the guy. Once I did he gave me both his power and a mission."-Menma.

Fukasaku had so much more questions he wanted to ask but he cleared his throat and said, "Nevermind that, we can talk about your meeting with him in front of Gamamaru."-Fukasaku.

"Huh? Who is Gamamaru."-Menma. "He is the oldest toad among all of us, he's so old that he knew the Sage of The 6 Paths."-Fukasaku.

Menma stood up and said, "Well let's go talk to him now then!"-Menma. Fukasaku put up a hand to stop him and said, "We can't just meet him, we talk to him if he request our council. But never mind that, you still have one personality you haven't told me about."-Fukasaku.

Menma's lost his excitement and reluctantly started speaking. "Well, the last one is the envious Menma. He's gone now, but whenever he was around anyone else he looked at them with an envious look, as if he wished he could be like them. Even though he possessed power gifted to him by the sage... the way he formed is... from... I'm sorry, I just don't feel comfortable saying how he came to be."-Menma.

Hearing his reluctance to say how he formed peaked his interest even more but he decided to save that for another time and decided to go back to the training, "Well then let's go back to the training. To improve on your concentration you're gonna have to follow me to the next training site."-Fukasaku.

While they were on the way there Fukasaku asked, "So how do you like Mt. Myoboku so far? When you first came here you had bags under your eyes but you look a lot better now."-Fukasaku.

"Uh yeah, I've been sleeping a lot better sense I got here. Before I got here I've been having trouble sleeping. But why do you think I've been sleeping so well?"-Menma.

"Well the most basic explanation I can give you is that the natural chakra and atmosphere affects your brain in a positive way. But have you been having trouble sleeping?"-Fukasaku.

Menma looked down for a second and said, "It's just... all the stress I've been having to deal with. I still have some PTSD from all the torture I've been put through, and I have to coup with the deaths of my loved ones while trying to prevent anymore from dying, and at the same time I still have to gain enough power to fulfill my mission. And the fact that if I fail this mission everything could be destroyed only adds on it... it's like the universe hates me."-Menma.

Hearing those details about his mission made Fukasaku extremely curious but he replied with a simple,"Hn."

"Well for your PTSD you will need to find the source of your troubles, and eliminate it. But for your other problem, well I can't help you with this mission of yours, but I can tell you that you shouldn't view their deaths in such a pessimistic way. While the living mourn for the dead they are reuniting with loved ones that they have also lost. Remember, if the dead have one thing it's time. Right now they are waiting for you, but they want you to live your life to the fullest, so they'll remain patient. I know my loved ones would be mad at me if they knew I was losing sleep like you are."-Fukasaku.

Menma let the wise words sink in and he had an optimistic smile on his face, but then his face returned to a small frown and said, "But that's the thing about my mission, if I don't succeed then the dead will cease to exist."-Menma.

They became silent for a while but Menma gave him one last comment, "But what you said does make me feel better tho, it's reminded me of why I need to keep on going."-Menma.

Fukasaku smiled they continued to walk the rest of the path in silence while Fukasaku continued to become more and more curious about this mission of Menma's.

10 Minutes Later

Once they arrived there Fukasaku walked up some stairs and picked up a stone slab. Menma looked up and saw multiple spikes facing up towards the sky that were at least 50 meters tall. "Don't tell me were doing what I think we're doing."-Menma.

"We are."-Fukasaku. Menma sighed and accepted the stone slab. "You're gonna go up there and balance on top of one of those spikes. Once you've learned to be truly still then we will finish our training."-Fukasaku. Menma nodded and started flying up towards the spikes, and Fukasaku followed behind him.

2 Minutes Later

Menma was sitting completely still on top of the stone slab and Fukasaku was doing the same across from him observing.

Menma was doing well but then he felt a ticklish feeling on his arm and it kept on crawling on it. Fukasaku looked on and was waiting to see what Menma would do. 'That's a special kind of wasp that resides only in these mountains, we let them feed off of nature energy and in return they help us with these kind of trials. Now, how will you deal with this Menma?'-Fukasaku.

Menma started feeling irritated by the insect that was crawling on his arm and he tried to release a little chakra in his arm to scare it away. But in response the wasp stung him.

But before Menma could retaliate the bug flew away and Menma lost his balance. Before he completely fell off of the slab Fukasaku told him, "Don't use your flying ability to save yourself!"-Fukasaku.

While Menma was falling he abided by his command and punched a hole in the side of the spike. Doing this created a space for him to hold himself up.

While he was dingling from the gap in the rock he saw Fukasaku trying to see if he was ok. Menma gave him a thumbs up and Fukasaku smiled.

"Ya know you're gonna have to learn how to fight without those eyes. One of these days someone might find a way to not let you use them."-Fukasaku.

Menma started walking back up to the top of the spikes and said, "Yeah yeah yeah I know, maybe another time. I'm a busy guy so let's just focus on the senjutsu for now."-Menma.

They were about to start training again but Fukasaku noticed something on Menma's arm and asked, "Menma, what is that seal on your arm?"-Fukasaku.

Menma looked down at his arm to see what he was talking about and noticed the mysterious seal on his left arm. "I don't know yet. I met a lady named Freya and she gave it to me, but she didn't explain what it is."-Menma.

Menma tried to think about what it was but then he remembered what happened the first time he came to Mt. Myoboku. How he accidentally absorbed nature chakra and shot it back out, and he got an idea.

He stood back on the slab and told Fukasaku, "If I start turning into a frog don't hit me, I want to try something out!"-Menma. Fukasaku was curious about what Menma was planning but nodded in agreement.

Menma got into a meditative position and started absorbing Nature chakra into his body through both his seal and his body.

While using the seal nature chakra came to him a lot faster and he eventually started gaining frog like features. Fukasaku was about to stop him but Menma opened his eyes and stretched out his left arm and shot out all of the nature chakra. Once he did that his features returned to normal.

Fukasaku had an amazed look on his face and thought, 'This child continues to amaze me. He really is unexpectedly crafty and intelligent just like Jiraiya boy said.'-Fukasaku.

Menma gained a foxy grin on his face and said, "Alright, that's one problem solved! But we should get back to my concentration training, or else I'll never become a perfect sage."-Menma. Fukasaku nodded his head and they continued their training.

Collection Office

Kakazu was counting the money while Hidan was waiting outside for him. Hidan heard footsteps behind him and he stood up and said, "Finally you're done, I've been waiting forever"- Hidan was cut off when he felt a blade slice his throat and he fell to the ground.

Asuma put his blade away and called out the other 3. Once everyone was there, he said, "Alright, that's one down. Now what we're gonna do is"-"Owwww that hurt!"-Hidan.

Everyone looked towards the thought to be dead Akatsuki member with a mix of distraught and surprise. He stood up and rubbed his neck. "What the hell is this guy??!"-Kotetsu.

"I'm sure that I killed him, so how?"-Asuma. Hidan turned towards them and told them, "I'm immortal, isn't it obvious? So who are you guys supposed to be anyway?"-Hidan asked as he took a close look at them.

After laying eyes on Asuma he noticed a piece of cloth around his waist and said, "That mark, that's the same mark as the other guy from the Shinobi 12. *groan* now I'm gonna have to go back inside that dirty collection office."-Hidan.

Hidan pulled out his scythe and Asuma pulled out his wrist blades in response. Hidan was about to charge towards them but noticed he couldn't and looked down. He saw a black line and followed it with his eyes until he saw Shikamaru on top of the roof of the building.

Hidan simply grinned and said, "You came after us in the wrong order."-Hidan. Asuma tensed up and asked, "Where's your par"- Asuma was cut off when he heard a loud sound coming from where Shikamaru was.

He looked towards the sound and saw Shikamaru being chased by Kakazu. Asuma saw Kakazu catching up to him and rushed over and intercepted him before he could reach Shikamaru.

Kakazu got into a fighting position but before he could attack Hidan said, "Hey Hey Hey! These guys are gonna be a part of my ritual, don't interrupt!"-Hidan.

Kakazu got into a relaxed position and said, "Very well, but be careful or they'll kill you."-Kakazu. Hidan laughed in response and started creating a diagram with blood. "If they could kill me I wish they could."-Hidan.

Asuma started sweating and tensed up. "What's he creating that diagram for?"-Shikamaru. Asuma turned his head towards him and ordered, "I'm going to charge him, you're going to catch him in a your shadow binding jutsu and I'll cut off his head to stop his movements."-Asuma.

"That's too risky, I should go with"-"Don't you get it?!? This is the best we can do for now!!"-Asuma.

Asuma was about to follow up on the plan but everyone stopped when they saw rustling in the bushes. They all looked towards the source of the sound and saw Itachi walk out of the forest with his famous sharingan flaring.

The Leaf ninja lost all hope of their chances to beat the 2 Akatsuki members, and Kakazu and Hidan were curious but calmer. "Itachi Uchiha, what are you doing here, and where's Kisame?"-Kakazu.

"Kisame is meeting up with a contact right now. And I heard commotion over here so I came to see what it was."-Itachi said as he walked up behind Kakazu.

Kakazu accepted the answer and faced back towards the leaf ninja. "Well sense you're here you can help take care these Leaf niNJAAAA"- Kakazu was cut off when he felt a painful feeling in his back. He looked behind his shoulder and saw Itachi holding 2 swords that pierced 2 of his hearts.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!?!"-Kakazu asked with blood coming from his mouth. Itachi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and told him, "I'm making my move on the Akatsuki now. I guess you'll be the first victim, Tsukuyomi."-Itachi.

Mt. Myoboku

It's been around 9 hours since the training started and a thunderstorm started coming, but Menma continued to train.

The heavy rain arrived and he had multiple special wasp crawling on his body, but he continued to train.

'You're finally doing it.'-Fukasaku thought as he saw the nature energy quickly rising in his body. After a few more seconds he stopped gathering Nature energy and opened his eyes to reveal yellow irises with a cross like shape to his irises. Fukagaku gasped and thought, 'He has no rings around his eyes, so he shouldn't have achieved sagehood! But It feels like he has even more sage chakra in him then what a perfect sage should have!'-Fukasaku.

The wasp around Menma left and birds started flying towards him. 3 birds landed on him but he didn't lose his balance somehow.

Menma had a bright smile plastered on his face and he said, "I feel like I can see the entire world!"-Menma. Fukasaku chuckled in response and said, "Well that's how it feels to be a Sage."-Fukasaku.

Everything was quiet and peaceful for a little while until Gamakichi came over and called out for Menma. "Menma! The elder toad has asked for your audience!"-Gamakichi.

The vibrations of his footsteps caused the birds to leave and Menma sighed. Menma was about to jump off of the slab but something caught his attention.

He focused on the chakra he sensed and was able to distinguish who it was. He sensed Shikamaru, Asuma, Kotetsu, Izumo, and 2 huge malicious chakras. He became worried and stood up on instinct. But before he could say anything he noticed one more chakra source and calmed down. 'Itachi, I'll leave this in your hands."-Menma.

As Menma was walking away from the training site he noticed something else about himself. 'I thought that sage mode would give me insight on what this seal is... but I can't even translate it yet. Just what is this thing?'-Menma.

Collection Office

Itachi and Hidan were currently engaged in a sword battle with Itachi having the advantage. They continued trading strikes until eventually Hidan locked Itachi's sword in place.

Itachi was surprised and Hidan took advantage of this and put a big gash in Itachi's skin. Itachi released the blade and backed up.

In the time that Itachi was dazed Hidan ran over to his diagram and already licked his blood. The entire time Shikamaru and co. looked on with looks that indicated that they were viewing an entirely different battle than what was really happening.

Hisan's skin darkened and his face and body became covered in skeletal looking tattoos. "HahaHAHAHAHA!!! I really use to think you were cool! But now you've gone and betrayed us, and treachery is against Jashin's laws! So where do you want it first?!" Hidan asked pointing a narrow spine towards himself. "The stomach!?! The lungs?!? Or do you want me to just finish you off with your heart?!?"-Hidan.

Itachi just sat there and didn't respond in anyway. Hidan waited a while longer but eventually got pissed off, "Come on, this isn't fun if you aren't gonna at least scream!"-Hidan.

Hidan waited a while longer but Itachi still didn't show any sign of worrying. He eventually snapped and yelled, "You know what?! I take back what I said, you were never cool!! Maybe after I stab you in a few vital places you'll respond!"-Hidan.

Hidan brought the spike up to his stomach and stabbed himself. Itachi fell to the ground in pain and Hidan started laughing maniacally, "Come on come on come on COME ON!!! You were acting all fine a second ago, don't give up just yet!"-Hidan yelled stabbing himself again.

This time Itachi started coughing up blood violently and Hidan was satisfied by the sight. "You should feel honored to be a sacrifice for Jashin!"-Hidan yelled before stabbing himself through the heart.

Itachi fell to the ground dead and Hidan started laughing maniacally. Once he was done laughing he looked over to where Kakazu was and lost all of his satisfaction. Where Itachi was previously now stood a unharmed Itachi.

Hidan was about to say something but the battle field around him started becoming blurry and it transformed into something much different than what he saw before. The biggest difference was that where he previously saw Itachi he now saw Kakazu lifelessly laying on the ground with 5 holes in his torso and a pool of blood around him.

Hidan stood in disbelief and asked, "What the hell just happened?!?"-Hidan. Itachi started walking towards him and Hidan tried to take a step back in slight fear, but he was stopped by what felt like invisible wires.

"It's quite ironic really. The first time I ever met the Akatsuki I already put everyone under a genjutsu just in case one of you betrayed us. And since we're fighting the genjutsu became active."-Itachi.

Hidan got pissed off and yelled, "But what the hell did you just do you bastard!?!"-Hidan. Itachi stopped walking towards him when he was 10 meters away and said, "The illusion started at the beginning of the battle after I arrived and I stabbed Kakazu in 2 of his hearts. Then while your vision was being tricked I switched places with Kakazu and controlled his body to fight you. After you got his blood and you used your secret technique I provoked you in a way that you would try to get a reaction out of me by making you stab him in the remaining 3 of his hearts. Oh, and also during the entire time Kakazu was under Tsukuyomi so that's why he couldn't resist the genjutsu or wake up."-Itachi.

Hidan and everyone stood there speechless, only a few like Shikamaru truly understood what he said. 'What a genius tactician. I'm glad he's on our side?'-Shikamaru.

Itachi sighed and raised up one of his arms. "This battle has gone on long enough, so this is goodbye."-Itachi said as he flicked his finger onto an invisible wire that caused an explosion. Hidan's decapitated body laid in a deep ditch and Itachi walked up to the hole.

Itachi looked down into the hole to see Hidan's bloodied body parts spread throughout the hole, and he looked dead. But knew he wasn't and waited until he eventually opened his eyes.

When he did Hidan glared at Itachi and yelled, "You BASTARD!! YOU THINK THIS WILL STOP ME?!? EVEN IF I HAVE CHEW MY WAY OUT HERE I'LL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU!?! I SWEAR IT ON JASHIN!!"-Hidan.

Itachi stood unfazed by the threat and closed his eyes. Once he reopened them he revealed the mangekyo sharingan and said, "Hn, the 2 of us believe in 2 very different things. You believe in a fools God, but right now I'm your God. And I'm the one who judges your fate. And I've decided I'm gonna end you with the one thing that you won't survive."-Itachi.

Hidan was struck with fear by the threat and his eyes widened. The sun was behind Itachi's body and the silhouette of his body reminded Hidan of the angel of death casting out his judgement.

Itachi's left eye began to bleed and Itachi said 1 word, "Amaterasu." And with that word black flames began to envelope the head and Hidan and he screamed in pain.

Itachi walked away from the screams and started walking back into the forest. Shikamaru was about to ask him something but Itachi predicted it and cut him off, "Tell Tsunade that the shadow Hokage took care of it."-Itachi.

Mt. Myoboku

The walk towards Gamamaru was surprisingly quiet and uneventful. Once they arrived there Menma took a deep breath before opening the door and looking directly at Gamamaru. 'That's what I expected him to like.'-Menma.

Gamamaru woke up from his rest and smiled when he saw Menma. "Grand toad, you ordered for his audience."-Fukasaku.

"Yes yes I did, it's an honor to finally meet you, uhhhh... uhhhhh... what was your name again?"-Gamamaru.

Menma sweat dropped and said, "My name is Menma Uzumaki."-Menma. Gamamaru remained silent for a little while but he said, "Ahhh Yes Yes yes that's your name! Menma Uzumaki! Do you know why I called you here?"-Gamamaru.

Menma shook his head and Gamamaru continued, "Ya know, you have the same chakra and eyes that Hagaromo had."-Gamamaru. Menma had a surprised look on his face and asked him, "How old are you?"-Menma.

"Hmmmmmmmm... I don't remember."-Gamamaru. "He's over a thousand years old."-Fukasaku.

"Well listen here Menma, I have a prophecy for you. So listen closely... Soon you will come across a white snake on your journey. A snake that you're familiar with, but when you meet this snake you must not let it beat you in a physiological sense."-Gamamaru.

Menna understood who the white snake was and chose not to ponder on the part about beating him in a physiological sense. "Also, on your journey you will meet a child that is like no other. This child you teach you many things as you will do for them. You mustn't let this child be harmed at all cost, they will be the key to you defeating the king in the golden kingdom."-Gamamaru.

Menma thought about what he said, 'What is the golden kingdom? Is that where Odin lives? And who's this little girl?' Then Menma asked, "Is that the entire prophecy?"-Menma. "Yes, but don't forget about becoming the child of prophecy, and don't forget about Jiraiya's valuable teachings of achieving peace."-Gamamaru.

Menma nodded his head in acknowledgment and asked Fukasaku, "I think I'm done here for now. Can you send me back?"-Menma. "Huh? But we haven't completely finished your training yet, you still need to learn frog kumite."-Fukasaku.

Menma waved him off and said, "It's Alright, I can learn it another time. There are some things I need to do that I should have done a long time ago."-Menma replied in a serious tone.

Fukasaku was going to protest but complied and told him, "Alright, but make sure you come back here to finish your training."-Fukasaku. And with that last statement Fukasaku sent Menma back to Konoha.

Back In Konoha

Once Menma arrived back in the village he started heading towards the neighborhood closest to the Hokage Mansion.

Once he arrived at his destination he stood in front of a 2 story house. He walked up the steps towards the door and once he arrived in front of it he walked through the door and took in the sight.

The house wasn't very well kept and it had a lot of dust and spiders in it. Menma coughed and activated his rinnegan to find a source of chakra. Once he found it he rushed towards it and looked at the door.

Unlike the rest of the house the door looked untouched. Menma found it strange but shrugged it off and tried walking through it, but he couldn't.

Menma looked up at the door in surprise and tried again, but he still couldn't walk through it. 'Does this door have some kinda multi dimensional barrier?'-Menma.

Menma put his hand on the seal and activated the seal on his arm. Once he did his arm started absorbing chakra from it.

Once all of the chakra was absorbed from the seal it disappeared and Menma opened the door. When he walked inside he was greeted by a room that resembled a small library. But it looked like an infinite amount of books.

Menma examined the room and his eyes passed over a picture of a blonde man, a red haired pregnant woman, and a red haired baby.

Menma walked up towards the painting and thought, 'This must be me. Is that what my parents looked like?'-Menma.

Menma smiled at the picture and stood still until 2 people started walking up behind him. One of them tapped him on the shoulder and Menma's mind came back to reality.

He turned around and saw both Mina and Suigetsu. "Hey Menma! We've missed you."-Mina. Menma gave them a heart warming smile and said, "It's nice to see you again. You haven't caused any trouble while I was gone have you?"-Menma.

They both made nervous laughs and looked at each other in an awkward way. "No we haven't, I had a little trouble but... Suigetsu made me feel a lot better."-Mina. Menma narrowed his eyes at them but remembered the subject at hand. "Well anyways, I'm gonna need you 2 to be quiet for a little while. I'm doing something important."-Menma.

They complied and backed away while Menma stepped closer to the painting. He noticed an imprint on the wall and moved the painting slightly out of the way.

When he moved it out of the way he saw a strange metal cube in a hole in the wall. He pulled it out and looked at it. It asked the question

,"I turn polar bears white

And I will make you cry.

I make guys have to pee

And girls comb their hair.

I make celebrities look stupid

And normal people look like celebrities.

I turn pancakes brown

And make your champagne bubble.

If you squeeze me, I'll pop.

If you look at me, you'll pop. What am I?"

Menma looked at the riddle with a blank face and thought, 'Why the hell is it so long? Couldn't just be something like I have one head, 1 tail, and no body?' *sigh* 'Hmmmmmm. I make celebrities look stupid? Hmmm, I think it's pressure.'-Menma.

Menma wrote out the word on the cube with his chakra, and once he was done the word glowed and the cube opened up to reveal a pyramid.

Menma looked at the object and sighed in relief, 'At least these riddles are a lot shorter.'-Menma. The first one asked, "Pronounced as a letter, written with three, I have a twin whom I cannot see. What am I?"

Menma thought about for a few seconds and came with his answer. He wrote out the word Eye on the pyramid and it glowed. Menma thought it would be over but another riddle appeared.

"What is mine, but only you can have?"

Menma found this rifle quite easy and wrote out the kanji for Love on the pyramid. After it glowed another riddle showed up and asked, "I am one in Youthful, 2 in acaulous, and 3 in uruhu, but I am none in earth. What am I?"

Menma about it for a few seconds and came up with the answer. He wrote out the letter u on the pyramid. Once he did that the pyramid glowing and it opened up to reveal a key inside.

On the key it had the answers to all the riddles on it and it said, Eye Love U. "I love you... I love you too."-Menma. Menma picked up the key and once he did he felt like a foreign chakra entered his body.

Menma put all of the objects back where they were and rebalance the painting before walking towards the bookshelves.

While walking over he saw a table with a keyhole in the middle. Menma walked over to the strange hole and stuck the key in it.

Once did the shelves started shaking and around 4 different books started falling on the ground. Menma worried that they might break so he caught them with the tso.

Menma walked over to the books and read the title on them. Menma had a satisfied smile on his face and put the 4 books in a bag. "Hey Menma are these your parents?"-Suigetsu asked looking at the painting.

"Yep, as you can see I inherited my mom's beauty and my dad's coolness."-Menma. They both rolled their eyes and left through the front door.

Menma followed behind them and Suigetsu asked, "So are we finally gonna leave this village?"-Suigetsu. "Right after we hit one last stop."-Menma.

Because of Menma's relative chakra to the sage of the 6 paths it would have made more sense for him to have already be able sense nature energy. But for further enjoyment of the story I changed it.


	14. The Sound Village

Menma read all the names on the graves. Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Hinata Hyuga. 'Don't worry everyone. I won't let what happen to you happen to anyone else. Your deaths won't be in vain.'-Menma.

The sky indicated it was late in the afternoon and the sun was setting. Menma stepped away from the graves and started walking towards the exit.

Suigetsu and Mina down the hallways and was preparing herself. 'Tsunades gonna be really mad this time.'-Shizune. Shizune walked around the construction workers and walked into the Hokage's office.

Tsunade noticed her walking in and asked, "So is Menma coming?"-Tsunade. Shizune gulped and responded, "No, he already left the village with Suigetsu and Mina.

Tsunade took a deep breath and Shizune prepared herself for a lot of yelling. But nothing ever came. Shizune opened her eyes and saw Tsunade sigh. "Oh well, it can't be helped. I guess this is just a habit of Menma."-Tsunade.

Shizune sighed in relief and started walking out of the office, but she was stopped when she heard the sound of wood being destroyed. "SO I GUESS I'M JUST GONNA HAVE TO BEAT IT INTO HIM!"-Tsunade.

On A Road Leading To The Sound Village

While Menma Suigetsu and Mina were walking down the road towards the hidden sound village a thought popped up in Suigetsu's head, "We should come up with a name for our group!"-Suigetsu.

Menma looked at him with a curious look and asked, "Like the sannin or something?"-Menma. Suigetsu nodded his head.

Menma started thinking about a name and said, "How about we call ourself Kitsune?"-Menma. "Mmmhmmm. The name sounds cool but why Fox?"-Suigetsu.

"Well the main reason I formed this group is to hunt down Orochimaru. And he's very fond and similar to snakes, and Foxes hunt snakes."-Menma.

"Yes but a lot of animals hunt down snakes, like hawks. I think Taka sounds cooler. Mina stepped in and said, "Another reason our group will be called Kitsune is because Menma lost a friend to Orochimaru who was a fox."-Mina.

Menma's head lowered at the mention of his old friend and he thought back to when he had that vision. 'I have to go to Jotunheim.'-Menma.

Suigetsu understood and said, "Well I guess it's settled then, we'll be Kitsune then."-Suigetsu.

Menma forced a cheerful smile on his face and said, "His name was Kurama he was my bestfriend. And he is 1 of the many people I've lost to that bastard. I've lost someone who was like a grandfather to me, a friend, 2 teammates, and worst of all... my own brother. I guess you could say that's why I'm so intent on hunting him down."-Menma.

Suigetsu remained quiet after hearing that. He could relate to losing a brother. "Ya know, I also lost my brother. His name Was Mangetsu Hozuki, when we were both younger we both had the dream of becoming members of the 7 swordsmen of the mist. And eventually he became one of the members, he weirded this blade." Suigetsu said pointing at the executioner's blade on his back. Suigetsu frowned, "But then they betrayed him. He was the strongest one among them, so they had him framed for a crime he didn't commit. And they sent multiple platoons to take him down." Suigetsu smiled, "He put up a great fight, he never gave up up until his last breath. He came close to defeating them all, but he eventually died of chakra exhaustion... I still don't know why they betrayed him, whether it was jealousy of his natural skill, or his mastery of their own blades. I don't know, but what I do know is that I'm gonna get those blades so that they aren't used like that ever again."-Suigetsu.

Menma and Mina looked at Suigetsu with a newfound respect for him. Menma looked at Mina and asked, "So why do you still stick around? You're free to go wherever you want. And you don't owe us anything."-Menma.

"Well... I don't know. I'm not interested in being a ninja, but I'm not interested in living as basic of a life as a villager. So I just wanna be with you guys, you're my friends."-Mina.

Menma accepted that answer and looked up at a sign ahead. "We're only a couple miles away from the hidden Sound Village now. You said all of the hideouts are in this country?"-Menma. Suigetsu nodded.

Over To Itachi And Kisame

The last remaining Akatsuki duo was currently walking down a path towards the Hidden Cloud Village. They continued walking but were interrupted when they were surrounded on both sides by bandits.

"Stop right there unless you have a death wish! Now, give us any valuables you have! Rings, jewels, anything."-Bandit.

Itachi sighed and Kisame chuckled under his breath. All of the bandits maintained their glares until one of them took a good look at them. The frightened bandit started tapping their leaders shoulder and they asked, "What do you want?!"-Bandit.

The scared man pointed at their clothes and said, "Don't you recognize those robes?! Tha-that's the Akatsuki!"-Bandit2.

After he said that everyone else took a better look at their prey and got scared. Kisame smiled and gripped his sword, "So you finally figured it out. So can we just go on our way, or are we gonna have to fight?"-Kisame.

The leader of the group didn't seem frightened at all and smiled, "Well you aren't the only ninja, I use to be a chunin! So I don't know why you're so confident, cause we're going to kill you!"-Bandit.

Kisame smirked and asked, "Who's we?"-Kisame. The bandit lost his smile and looked around himself and realized that everyone ran away. The bandit turned back towards them and yelled, "Tsst! This won't be the last time we meet! Consider yourselves lucky!"-Bandit.

Aa the bandit was running away he yelled, "The names Sado, don't forget!"-Sado. Kisame released his grip on his blade and laughed, "Well that was amusing."-Kisame.

Itachi "hned" in response and continued down the road. Kisame followed after him and said, "So what did this "contact" of yours tell you?"-Kisame.

Itachi looked at him and told him." We're going to the Hidden Cloud Village to gather information about the 8 tails. But why did you say it like that?"-Itachi. Kisame continued looking towards the road and said, "I just feel a little skeptical about whether you met a contact or not yesterday. And 2 of our members died yesterday."-Kisame.

Itachi looked back towards the road and responded, "I'm not sure why you'd think that. But leave those thoughts for another time, we have to capture the 8 tails."-Itachi. Kisame grunted and complied.

Kitsune At The Leaf And Sound Border

The group of 3 arrived at the border and once they crossed it they were greeted by what looked like 3 ninja.

The ninja stopped them and asked, "What is your business here?"-Ninja. Menma showed them the leaf headband around his neck and responded, "We're here to hunt down a missing nin who's been hiding in this village."-Menma.

The first ninja narrowed his eyes at them and asked, "Do you have papers with you as proof?" Menma shook his head, "No, we didn't have time."-Menma.

The second ninja shook his head and said, "You need proof if you want to enter the village." Menma sighed and said, "Come on, there's gotta be a way you can let us in?"-Menma.

All 3 of the ninjas grew a grin and started circling them. The first ninja said "Well there is 1 thing you can do." The other ninja grabbed Mina's shoulder and said, "Yeah, how about you let us borrow her for a while. Then we'll let you go in the village."

Menma sighed in mild annoyance and said, "Ya know what? We'll just go back to our village and get those papers."-Menma stated as he started walking back in the direction of the village.

But he was interrupted when he felt a blade on his throat. "It wasn't a question."-Ninja3. Suigetsu gripped his blade and spoke with suppressed annoyance and anger, "How about this. We forget this whole thing happened, and I let you keep your heads?"-Suigetsu.

The 3 ninja stood silent for a second, but then they started laughing. And while they were laughing Mina grabbed the arm on her shoulder and broke it. The man screamed, and Mina side kicked him away from her.

Next she ran at the next one before he could prepare and she kicked him in the groin. Once he fell to the ground she axed kicked him and his face slammed into the ground.

The last one ran towards her but she used his momentum against him and tripped him. He fell to the ground and Mina stomped on his head a few times before he was unconscious.

Mina calmed down and looked over at Menma and Suigetsu to see that they both had surprised expression. "What? Just because I'm a woman and I like buying a lot of clothes I don't know how to defend myself?"-Mina.

Both Menma and Suigetsu snapped out of it and quickly put up their hands in defence, "No no no! It's not like that, it's just"-" hahaha, I'm just kidding. C'mon"."-Mina.

"Wait, let me do one thing first."-Menma stated as he walked up to the only ninja who was still conscious and activated his EMS. He used Kotoamatsukami and said, "You won't tell anyone that we were here." He was about to leave but another thing crossed his mind. "Hey bud, here's some advice coming from another man. Think less with your dick and more with your head"-Menma stated as he stood up followed behind Suigetsu and Mina.

"That was corny."-Suigetsu. Menma laughed nervously and said, "Yeah, I know, but I couldn't come up with anything else. Either way the message should have gotten across."-Menma.

As they were walking in the village they noticed that it looked very similar to Konoha. They arrived at giant fountain in the middle of the village and Menma said, "Alright, let's all split up. One of us will need to get us a place to sleep and the other will need to go gather information while I get familiar with the place."-Menma.

They both stood there nervous for a second and one of them spoke up, "Uh, Menma, look at the sky."-Suigetsu. Menma did what he said and noticed it was nighttime. Menma laughed nervously and said, "Oh, well in that case let's just find a place to sleep."-Menma.

Kitsune started making their way down a street and were searching the buildings signs for one that said hotel. "Don't you know where anything here is?"-Menma.

"Of course not! I was shipped between hideouts, I didn't just go on strolls in the town."-Suigetsu. "Haha, oh right that makes more sense."-Menma.

They continued walking and eventually Menma stopped looking at the street signs and looked at the people around him. They all looked gloomy and mad at the same time while also looking Mischievous. He noticed a red haired woman walk into an alleyway with grocery bags and felt like his left arm tugged towards her. "Hey guys, go ask around to see if anyone knows where a hotel is. Imma go check something out.

They both compiled and Menma followed after the woman. He peeked around the corner and saw her make a turn deeper into the alley. He caught up to her and jumped onto a building. While she was walking Menma got a better look at her.

She had mature defined features and was very beautiful and had straight upper back length red hair to compliment it, along with matching scarlet eyes. She had a cautious look on her face and started jogging towards the exit of the alley.

But before she could make it, a man stopped her and she backed up until she accidentally walked into another man. She backed away from them both and of the bulky men said, "Your protection money is due."

She shook her head and said, "I don't have the money right now, please give me another we"-"Uh uh uh, you know the rules. We don't do late fees." The man said as he took a step forward.

She stepped back and said, "Please! Just give me some extra time, I promise it won't happen again!" The man shook his head and they both took a step forward. "I don't know missy. Maybe if you trade us that daughter of yours you won't have to worry about protection money for the next couple of years."

The woman revolted and said, "No way! There's no way I could do that! Anything but that!" The man stroked his chin and both the men looked at each other and grinned.

Menma at the moment was holding himself from jumping down to see what would happen. The 2 men examined the woman head to toe and said, "Well there is one thing you could do." The man stated as he put a hand on her shoulder.

The woman quickly knew what he was referring to and jerked herself back, "No. C'mon, there's gotta be another way!" The other man shook his head and said, "Sorry, it's either this, or we let those fancy police capture... and we'll take your daughter."

The key word Daughter seemed to trigger something and the woman looked down. She contemplated and looked back up and said, "Ok, I'll do it as long as it's for my daughter..."

Menma saw enough and jumped down into the alley. All 3 of them noticed him and one of them said, "Doppo, take care of him. No witnesses." The man now known as doppo pulled out a machete and said, "Got it Hakura."

"Don't get involved! You don't know what you're dealing with!"-woman. Menma's face expressed his determination and he said, "I know I don't, but what kind of person would I be if I didn't help anyway?"-Menma.

Doppo ran at Menma and slashed down at Menma. Menma sidestepped it and punched the brute in the gut. He fell to the floor and Menma blitzed the other in his gut. He also fell and Menma looked at both of them and activated his EMS. 'God I wish I could just beat both of you to the point where you could barely breathe, but if I do that your people will suspect something. And i don't want to heal you so...' "You will go back to where you came from and forget this woman ever existed."-Menma.

Both the men stood up and started walking away while Menma looked at the women who had an amazed look on her face. 'Those eyes... they're so similar too...'-Minako.

"Don't worry miss, they won't ever come back to bother you again."-Menma. The woman still seemed nervous and said, "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did, I'm not just gonna stand by and watch if I have the power to interfere. I've already seen this kinda thing happen before and I don't wanna see it again."-Menma.

The woman asked a bit at the sentence and looked at him with awe. 'That's just like my husband Kagami.' Menma started feeling uncomfortable under her gaze and said, "So what's your name?"-Menma. She snapped out of it and answered, "My name is Minako."

"No last name?"-Menma. "I'd rather not say."-Minako. Menma realized what he said, "Oh sorry, that's a weird question to ask."-Menma. "Oh no! It's not that, it's just that... my name is dangerous for me and my daughter."-Minako.

"Oh, that's understandable. Anyways who were those guys?"-Menma. Minako looked surprised, "How do you not know them? They are the most well known group here."-Minako.

"Haha, well sorry but I'm new here. I'm gonna be staying here for about a month. So who are they?"-Menma. "They are part of a gang called Hagetaka. They have members from as small as mailman to as big as political officials. The only thing that stops them from ruling the village is our hardened leader Orochimaru, and no one likes him either."-Minako.

"Why don't people like either of them?"-Menma. "Well, I would love to tell you. But it's getting late."-Minako.

Before Menma could respond Suigetsu and Mina ran towards him and Suigstsu said, "Everyone here are just a bunch of dicks! No one would answer our question."-Suigetsu.

"What are you looking for."-Minako. "We're looking for a place to sleep. So I had them ask people if there was a hotel anywhere."-Menma.

"Oh, well sorry but this village doesn't have any hotels. They've all been converted into warehouses."-Minako. All of Kitsune got into a orz position and accepted defeat. "I guess we'll have to sleep on the street."-Menma.

"No! You all can come live at my house. I have a couple of vacant rooms."-Minako. Suigetsu smiled and said, we would love"-"No, you already have money problems. I don't wanna bother you with having more mouths to feed."-Menma.

Suigetsu looked at Menma with surprise and Minako said, "Nonsense! After what you've just done for me this is the least I can do!"-Minako demanded with determination. Suigetsu was tugging at Menma's hand in a way a child would when asking for a toy and was whispering in his ear, "Please say yes please say yes please say yes.."-Suigetsu. Menma sighed and said, "You aren't gonna take no for an answer are you?"-Menma.

Minako shook her head and Menma walked up to her, "Alright then, lead the way."-Menma.

Minako's Home

Minako opened the front door and invited them in. They walked inside and took in the atmosphere. The floor was brown hardwood and the walls and ceiling are a pale color. Suigetsu walked up to a fish tank and looked at it.

Mina saw a hat rack and started walking towards it with a smile on her face, but Menma grabbed her and Suigetsu and they started following Minako in the hallway.

While they were walking down the hallway Menma's left arm felt weird and he looked down at it. He stopped walking and the seal showed itself.

Menma faced towards the door on his left and the seal started glowing. "C'mon Menma, your rooms this way. That's my daughters room."-Minako.

"Huh? Oh right, sorry."-Menma. Menma walked towards her and she pointed at 2 doors and said, "2 in one room and 1 in the other."-Minako.

Menma was the first to decide and said, "I'll take the room on my left for myself."-Menma. Suigetsu tried to protest and said, "C'mon, we can't be do"-"Sorry Suigetsu, I'm not doing this for the reason you think I am. I just don't want to wake one of you up in the middle of the night due to night terrors."-Menma. Suigetsu remained silent and Menma walked into his room.

Menma took off his cloak and got comfortable. 'It's time for another night of torture.'-Menma.

The Next Day

Menma woke up in the morning and instinctively rubbed his forehead. After a second Menma realized there was no sweat on his forehead. 'No sweat?'-Menma. Menma looked outside the window and noticed it was daytime.

"I... I didn't have any night terrors... I didn't have a night terror!"-Menma. Menma smiled and put his cloak on. 'It must be because I've mastered sage jutsu. Fukasaku says it heals the mind and soul.'-Menma.

Menma confirmed that that must have been the reason and walked out of his room. While walking down the hallway he saw that a door was open and he peeked inside.

Inside the door he saw a head of red hair that was facing the opposite direction as him. Menma sensed someone turning the corner to his right and quickly jolted back.

Minako turned around the hall and said, "Good morning Menma! Your 2 friends already left out, they said something about gathering info. But since you're still here, can you help me with some chores?"-Minako.

"Of course! What kind of chores?"-Menma. "Things like house chores and grocery shopping."-Minako. "Huh? Didn't you go grocery shopping yesterday?"-Menma.

"Yes I did but... well, you'll know when we get there. Come now!"-Minako. Menma followed behind her and they started walking outside, but before they could make it outside something caught Menma's eyes and he looked towards the source.

He saw a picture on the dresser and picked it up, it was Minako wearing a princess dress with her daughter. The daughter had neck length red hair and dazzling greenish blue eyes. In the picture she seemed to be a baby.

There was also another person, it was a man standing next to Minako. He had curly onyx hair with matching vantablack eyes. Something about his facial complexion reminded Menma of someone.

Menma felt a poke on his shoulder and he looked up. Minako took the picture from him and set it back on the table. "Come on."-Minako.

Menma followed behind her and they entered the backyard. Menma quickly noticed that there was no backyard and only saw a giant clearing before him. "Uhhhh, where's the backyard?"-Menma.

Minako looked at him confused and Menma explained, "Well I thought that there would be a yard back here where we would pick strawberries or something, but all I'm seeing is a clearing."-Menma.

Minako smiled and laughed some before grabbing some seeds and giving them to Menma. "Plant these seeds throughout the clearing."-Minako. "What kind of seeds are they?"-Menma.

"They're different kinds of tree seeds. And if you're wondering why we're planting trees then start planting and I'll tell you."-Minako. Menma complied and started working. First he would dig out small holes to put the seeds in, then he would cover it back up and use a small water jutsu on it.

"So why are we planting these trees?"-Menma. "Planting these trees will help out both the animals and the people. People just need to realize that you can't just cut down all the trees in such a short amount of time or else they won't be able to grow back, then this land will be a flat plane and all the animals will have to go somewhere else. Then no one will be able to hunt and everyone will starve."-Minako.

Menma remained silent for a second then he made a hand sign. As soon as he did the ground started shaking and Minako stopped what she was doing. "I would back up if I were you."-Menma.

Minako complied and as soon as she got away from the area trees sprouted from the ground and what was previously a plain lifeless terrain was now a flourishing forest. "That should take care of everything. Now all the animals will have a habitat again, but you should teach people not to destroy everything at once." Menma walked towards her and asked, "So what's the next chore?"-Menma.

Minako smiled and looked at the trees. "They're already bearing fruit! What kind of power is that?"-Minako. "Well it's called wood release, but the name kinda gives away the main power. But it also let's me heal faster so that's a plus!"-Menma.

"Well we should go get the groceries now."-Minako stated as she started walking away. Menma followed behind her and they arrived on an open street.

"So why are you getting groceries?"-Menma. Minako sighed and said, "You sure ask a lot of questions don't you?"-Minako. Menma put his head down and said, "Sorry, but I just want to help in anyway so that's why i want to know as much as possible."-Menma.

Minako waved him off and said, "No need to be sorry, I understand." Minako cleared her throat, "I'm taking this food to a group of homeless people I know."-Minako.

This peaked Menma's interest and he asked, "Why is that?"-Menma. "You'll find out why."-Minako.

30 Minutes Later

"Menma, you got the apples right?"-Minako. Menma checked the bag. 'Alright there's bananas, pickles, oranges, grapes, strawberries... Where's the apples?' Menma realized there were no apples and quickly looked around himself. 'Okay so where's another fruit stand? Vegetable stand, meat stand, trading stand, ramen stand, that actually sounds nice. Wait I can't be doing that now, uhhh soup stand, wait why would there be a stand for only soup?'-Menma.

Menma tried looking around for another stand but eventually gave up. Minako turned around and asked, "Well is there?"-Minako. "Y-yes there is!"-Menma. Minako turned around and Menma thought, 'Okay I'm gonna have to come up with something. Okay think'... "The trees are already bearing fruit."

A lightbulb just went off in Menma's head and he got an idea. Menma raised his hand and wood came out of it. He made a small tree in his hand and 3 apples grew out of it.

He picked the apples and put them in the bag. 'So I can make my own food now huh? That's useful.'-Menma.

Minako and Menma turned a corner and they went down an alley. She pulled a pair of keys and opened a door. They both walked inside and Menma came face to face with multiple different people.

Minako walked past him and sat all of the groceries on the table. "Are all of these people homeless?"-Menma. Minako nodded her head and said, "Yes, they all have their own stories on how they ended up like this, but I'm in no place to tell you."-Minako.

All 20 of the homeless people stood up and started eating. Menma looked around and was thinking about what he could do.

He walked up to a random man that had a woman feeding him and tried to start a conversation. "Hey sir, my names Menma, what's yours?"-Menma.

The woman stopped feeding the man and he looked up at him. Menma could get a good look at him now and saw that he was a wrinkly old man in his 50's with a calm look on his face. "My names Akiro. I assume you want to know how I got here correct?" Menma nodded and Akiro cleared his throat.

"It's a pretty short story. I use to work at a hospital as a surgeon among other things. I was one of the best surgeons they had, and I had a high class home. Then one day a member of Hagetaka came to me with one of their friends. His friend was bleeding out of multiple stab wounds and he told me to save his life or else something bad would happen... and well, his friend was dead before he even got to me. But when I told him that it was too late he didn't accept that answer and did this to me."-Akiro stated as he raised his arms to show that he had no hands.

Menma gasped and Akiro continued, "After that I lost my job. And there's almost no job out there that doesn't require hands, and for the ones that did they wouldn't hire me because they knew about my encounter with those brutes of a gang. So that's how I ended up like this. And everyone else is here for similar reasons."-Akiro.

Menma got angered by the thoughts of what the gang could have done to these other people and asked, "Was the Hagetaka gang always like that?"-Menma.

Akiro shook his head and said, "No, they use to be a group loved by all. They use to be called Kawasemi because of what the kingfishers bird was known for. But now they're called Hagetaka which means vulture... They also had a leader that was extremely powerful. He liberated us from a corrupt Daimyo only using Taijutsu! We thought he would take over, but once our land was liberated the leader left the village to go on a journey."-Akiro.

"And what caused them to change?"-Menma. The man laughed a little and said, "Well it turns out it takes a lot of money to rule a land that's probably one of the things that the previous leader knew. After they liberated us our country became poor and they became desperate. Eventually a pale man came to this land and took it over. They easily accepted his rule and served under him. We thought things would get better but they only got worse, the new ruler placed us under unfair rules and would rob us of our children in the middle of the night. We tried to revolt but the men of Hagetaka would suppress us with violence and worse laws, if we could leave we would but we can't... the new rulers name is"-"Orochimaru."-Menma.

Akiro looked up and asked, "You know about him?"-Akiro. Menma nodded his head and said, "A little too well. That's the reason why I came here in the first place. I'm gonna get rid of him."-Menma.

Akiro stroked his beard and said, "hmmm, that's quite a big goal. No one even knows where he lives."-Akiro. "Well I didn't come alone. I have someone with me who used to be one of his prisoners."-Menma.

"Yes that will be helpful. I hope you succeed."-Akiro. Menma was about to leave him alone but had one more question, "So, when Hagetaka was good you said they had a different leader. Tell me something about him."-Menma.

"Hmmmm. Well, he stood at around 6'5 and he was extraordinarily muscular. He was inhumanely muscular! He was dark skinned and had a thin mustache. Also he must have been the greatest Taijutsu user to have ever existed. I don't think he can mold chakra, cause he never uses it at all. One time I saw him fighting someone, he missed a punch and the air pressure from his punch knocked down a tree! I believe he had a good heart, but when he met someone that he believed would put up a great fight he would lose some of his morals. He wouldn't kill them but he would go to great lengths to fight them. His name was Olivia."-Akiro.

Menma had a look of awe on his face and asked, "Can you give me another example of how powerful he is?"-Menma. "Well possibly one of the most Intimidating thing I've seen he do is cut someone's head clean off with his hand."-Akiro.

Menma laughed nervously and said, "Wow, well I'm glad someone like him didn't end up evil."-Menma. Menma was about to walk off but Akiro said, "Wait! Since I told you so much how about you tell me why you want to go after Orochimaru?"-Akiro.

Menma sighed and said, "Well, he came to my village and did a lot of bad things. 6 people dear to me are dead because of him. And he's gonna pay for that."-Menma.

Akiro turned his head back to his food and said, "Well I'm glad I met you Menma, hopefully I'll see you again."-Akiro. Menma smiled and said, "Don't worry I'll come back to tell you about my progress sometime In the future."-Menma stated as he walked off. Minako smiled after hearing the entire conversation and said, "I'm glad that you're getting to know these people."-Minako.

"Yeah, but why don't you teach some of the capable ones how to hunt and fish for food? They have to be able to take care of themselves in some way."-Menma.

Minako sighed and said, "Well I would love to. But Hagetaka are the only ones who have any of those things, so I can't buy any."-Minako.

"Hmmm, well where do they keep the supplies?"-Menma. "They keep it in warehouse 3, but it's heavily guarded so there's no point in trying. Besides"- Minako stopped talking when she looked in the direction of Menma and realized he was already gone. "Damn it."-Minako.

One Of Menma's Torture Rooms

Menma took off his surgical glove and dug his hand into the nape of someone's neck. Once he found their spinal cord he grasped it and pulled it all the way out along with the skull.

The victim screamed with unimaginable pain and Menma wrapped the spinal cord around his mouth and hung him from the ceiling to suffocate. Eventually his soul passed out and Menma sighed. "This technique doesn't feel the same way it used to." Menma picked up a hammer and some nails, "I guess I'm gonna have to try something else!"-Menma.


	15. Sending A Message

All of Orochimaru's major hideouts are gonna be in the Sound Village so everything can make more sense.

Menma looked for the nearest street and started walking down it. While walking down the dirt road he looked around at each individual store. After making it all the way down the block someone glanced toward him and noticed the fancy attire he wore. The man tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "Why are you looking around like that? Are you new or something?"

Menma faced him and took in his appearance. The skinny man stood a couple inches shorter than Menma and had messy brown hair with matching eyes. He looked young and he was wearing a business suit.

Menma responded and answered, "Yeah, me and my friends just got here. We're gonna be here for a month so I decided to get to know the place."-Menma.

The man gave him a strange grin and introduced himself, "Well I guess you're in luck then! My name is Toshiro Yakuza! And I have exactly what you need!"-Toshiro.

'Yakuza? Where have I heard that name before?'-Menma. Menma noticed he was becoming lost in thought and laughed nervously at the overly enthusiastic introduction and asked, "So what do you have for me? A map or something?"-Menma. Toshiro stood up straight and answered, "Bingo! That's exactly what I have!"-Toshiro said as he pulled out a map.

"You sound like you're trying to sell me something."-Menma. Toshiro shook his hand and said, "Oh no no no. It's completely free!"-Toshiro. "I've been told that nothing is free."-Menma.

Toshiro chuckled and said, "Well there is a price. All I ask for is your friendship."-Toshiro. Menma stood there confused for a second and said, "Friendship? I'd think someone as enthusiastic as you would have a lot of friends."-Menma.

Toshiro shook his head and said, "That would usually be the case. But not in this village, the people here are pretty shady."-Toshiro. "Yeah, I noticed"-Menma.

"So do we have a deal?"-Toshiro asked holding out his hand. Menma shook it and Toshiro handed him the map and a small card. "What's this?"-Menma.

"It's my address, come by anytime if you need information. I'm everywhere!"-Toshiro. "Huh? Are you sure you should just give me your address? We just met."-Menma.

"I can tell just by looking at you that you wouldn't do that." Toshiro looked down at his watch, "Well I gotta go now. Don't forget!"-Toshiro.

As Toshiro was running away Menma thought, 'It'd be hard to forget about someone like you.'-Menma.

Menma looked down at the map and examined the areas. "Ok, so the warehouses are to the west."-Menma. Menma looked up at the sun and saw that it almost noon, but the sun was slightly to the east, so Menma started running west.

It was high noon and Menma stood on top of a building next to a line of warehouses and started thinking, 'So now I'm not just taking out Orochimaru but I'm taking out a gang too. *sigh* Well no one ever said this would be easy. But from what I know about gangs there's most likely going to be lieutenants, so I'm gonna have to gather information on where their hideouts are. I could just use Kotoamatsukami to find out but that's no fun, it gets rid of the entire challenge of finding information... wait, what am I doing here? I'm getting distracted.'-Menma.

Menma hopped off of the building and onto the next. 'Warehouse 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, ah, 3!'-Menma. Menma jumped on top of the warehouse and looked inside. Inside were multiple shipping containers with words on them related to hunting. 'Yeah, that looks about right.'-Menma.

Menma hopped down into the warehouse and quietly moved towards the supplies. Menma activated his rinnegan and looked at all of the supplies. Each container had seal barriers on them and Menma said, "Damn! When I get back to Minako's house I'm gonna have to start studying Minato's seal books, I should start studying the rinnegan scroll too... actually this is good."-Menma.

Menma walked up to one of the containers and put his hand where the seal barrier was. "It's time to send a message and let them know that I'm the one that's gonna take them down."-Menma.

Menma shoved his hand past the seal barrier and teleported the container away. The seal activated and alerted the guards outside.

By the time the guards got inside the entire room was empty and Menma stood by himself in the middle. "Who the hell are you?!?"-Man.

Menma manifested his sage blade and said, "There's no point in telling you. You are already dead."-Menma said in his Kenshiro voice.

There was about to say something else but before he could 11 of the 12 men were cut down. The last man stood in shock and Menma walked up to him and told him, "When you go back to your base, tell them that my names Menma, and that me and the rest of Kitsune is gonna have all of Hagetaka exterminated within the month."-Menma.

Menma backed away from him and said, "it's October 2nd. The clocks ticking."-Menma. The man nodded his head and started running away.

Menma walked out of the building and looked at the other warehouses. He started walking towards them and arrived at warehouse 4. He put his hand on the handle, but he changed his mind and turned in the other direction. "Nah, I can see what's in these other warehouses some other time."-Menma.

Menma pulled out his map and looked at it again. He put it away and started heading towards the nearest bar.

10 Minutes Later

Menma walked into the bar and looked around. Everyone looked shady but everyone seemed to mind their business. Except for this one group of people that were being obnoxiously loud.

Menma sat down at the bar and asked the bartender, "Water and a bowl of ramen please."-Menma. The bartender nodded and walked away. Menma sat there for a second then he thought, 'Wait they actually have ramen here? I just said that as a joke... What kinda bar sells ramen?'-Menma. While the bartender was getting his drink and food Menma realized that the loud group wasn't yelling anymore and he listened in on their conversation.

'Damn, they're too far away.'-Menma. Menma started thinking of a way to talk to them without walking over there and figured it out.

He put his hand up to his ear to cover it and activated his EMS. 'I've been training with this technique lately, this is gonna take a lot of chakra and a lot of concentration.'-Menma. He used Kamui on his ear and it disappeared and reappeared under the table they were at.

"So did you achieve stage 2 of the mark yet?"-Man1. "Yeah, I got it just yesterday. It still feels weird."-Man2. "What do you think is the point of them?"-Man3.

"I'm pretty sure it's some kind of powerup."-Man2. "What would we need a powerup for?"-Man1. "I heard that an old enemy of the leader has come to this village, and that he wants him disposed of."-Man2.

"An old enemy?"-Man3. "Yeah, one of my friends came running towards the hideout screaming and jabbering. Once he calmed him down he told us that the guy sent a message. He said, "My names Menma, and me and the rest of Kitsune is gonna have all of Hagetaka exterminated within the month."-Man2.

"Ha! He's really that confident in himself?"-Man3. "He knows that we have members all across the village right? We have cashiers, mailmen, and even some doctors. How's he gonna take us all down?"-Man1.

"Yeah, that's true, but I heard he's powerful. He managed to sneak in unnoticed, and once he was in he purposely set off an alarm. And once they got in there he killed 11 out of the 12 men In less than a second!"-Man2.

The first man slammed his fist on the table, "That doesn't matter! He says he'll take our all of Hagetaka but I'd like to see him try! We have connections, we can find out anything we want about him, and have him taken care of. Besides, he'll inevitably have to fight the leader, and he got a new power recently."-Man1.

Menma stopped listening and turned around. 'New power?'-Menma. Menma deactivated his EMS and looked at his glass of water. He started drinking it and noticed that they went back to yelling. *sigh*'I can't concentrate like this.' Menma turned around. "Can you 3 please shut up?"-Menma.

All 3 of them turned around and looked towards him. "Ehhhhh?! Who do you think you're talking too?"-Man2. Menma looked at them with a smug impression and said, "The parasite right in front of my eyes."-Menma responded pointing at him.

The man got pissed off at his response and started walking towards him. "Your next line is, "Do you know who we are punk?"-Menma. The man grabbed him by the collar and said, "Do you know who we are punk?" *gasps* The man was surprised when he realized what he just said and Menma used his surprise to slip out of his grip.

Menma backed away and noticed that a white haired man with a giant sword on his back walked in. Menma turned back to them and said, "Why yes I know exactly who you are! You're Orochimaru's henchman!"-Menma.

The man growled and pulled a knife with a smile. Menma pretended to be fearful and the man asked him, "What's your name?"-Man2.

"Hmmmmm, I don't think I can tell you that."-Menma. The man pressed the blade against his throat and said, "If you don't tell me I'm gonna kill you right here!"-Man2.

They were both interrupted when they felt blood spray all over them. The both looked towards the source and saw 2 decapitated bodies on the ground. Before the man could react Suigetsu grabbed him and slammed his head against the table.

"Go ahead Menma."-Suigetsu. The man was shocked and got a good look at him. 'Wait, he has blue eyes, white hair, and a strange cloak.' His eyes opened, "You're the Menma stole from one of our shipping warehouses!"-Man2.

Menma got down to eye level with him and said, "That's right, and if you don't tell me what I want to know I'm gonna steal your soul. You got that?"-Menma.

The man nodded in fear and Menma asked, "So you said your friend came to the hideout, where is this hideout? And how many hideouts are there?"-Menma.

"There are 4 hideouts! The hideout I was at was the southern hideout! It's located a few miles below the southwest part of the village! I swear that's all I know!"-Man2.

Menma looked at him for a second then told Suigetsu, "Ok you can let him go."-Menma. "What? We can't cut him up or something?"-Suigetsu. "Uhhh, I guess you can. I don't really care."-Menma. Suigetsu looked at the man for a good 10 seconds then let him go and sat down next to Menma at the bar. "I'd rather not get this place more bloody than it already is."-Suigetsu. The bartender walked out of the back and sat down Menma's food and drink. The bartender glanced at the 2 bodies on the ground then started cleaning glasses.

Menma was surprised and asked, "I guess your use to seeing this huh?"-Menma. "Yeah, I've seen worse."-Bartender. "Worse."-Suigetsu.

The bartender nodded and said, "The worse I've seen is when the previous leader of Hagetaka was here, Olivia. He was enjoying a drink while a bar fight was going on behind him. Sense everyone was drunk one of them eventually hit him. And when that happened he stood and and well... no one died but none of them could ever walk again."-Bartender.

Menma looked down at his glass of water and realized it wasn't there anymore. Menma looked towards Suigetsu and saw him drinking it. He scowled at him and Suigetsu said, "What? Drink the water in the ramen bowl."-Suigetsu.

Menma sighed and started eating his ramen. 'Man, I've been hearing a lot about this Olivia guy lately. From what I'm hearing he must have at least been on the level of the sannin.'-Menma.

Menma finished his bowl and told Suigetsu, "Alright, let's go destroy this hideout tomorrow, it's gonna be dark soon."-Menma.

"Wait! I have one last question."-Bartender. They both turned around, "Are you 2 brothers? Cause you look almost identical."-Bartender. They both sighed and said, "No." In unison and left.

20 Minutes Later

While they were both walking a thought crossed Menma's mind and he stopped. Suigetsu stopped and asked, "Why'd you stop" Menma handed him his map and told him, "You can go back home, I need to meet a couple of people.

Suigetsu started walking away and Menma looked down at the card Toshiro gave him and started heading towards that address.

Toshiro's Place

Toshiro was playing back on his couch and one of the guys there asked, "So what did you find out about him so far?"-Man1. "Nothing yet."-Toshiro.

"Well find something out soon! He just raided one of our warehouses! We can't let him get away with that! We need his address!"-Man1.

They all sat in silence for a second then one of them asked, "Hey Doppo, I noticed that you haven't collected the rent from that Minako lady we're protecting from that one Daimyo."-Man1.

Doppo looked confused and said, "What lady?" "Huh? What do you mean what lady? It's the one you've been collecting rent from."

Doppo started rubbing his head, "I can't remember, I feel like a day out of my life is missing." "Hmmmm, well whatever. Just go there sometime this week."-Man1.

All of them stood up and left Toshiro's room. As soon as they left the building Menma turned the corner and entered.

"Hey Toshiro I have a question for you."-Menma. Toshiro was startled by Menma's sudden arrival and jumped in surprise. "Well you've decided to come by pretty fast!"-Toshiro.

"I want you to tell me what you know about Orochimaru's southern hideout."-Menma. Toshiro was surprised by the question and thought, 'I can't tell him where that place is, that info is too great to be shared.'-Toshiro.

"It's ok if you don't know where it is, I already know. I was just wondering if you could warn me of anything there."-Menma.

Toshiro felt mentally relieved and said, "Well there's not much security there, and the hideouts main purpose is keeping people held prisoner."-Toshiro.

Menma smiled and said, "Great!" Before running out. Toshiro ran over to his window and when Menma turned the corner he ran out of his house to the nearest hideout. Toshiro hates lying, that's why he told him a partial truth. It's pretty ironic considering his job but it was necessary. The southern hideout won't have a small amount of security for long.

Homeless Area

Menma walked inside of the alleyway door and looked around to see all of the homeless examining the items he brought there.

Menma walked up to Minako and Minako gave him a heart warming smile. "I feel like I underestimated you."-Minako. Menma scratched the back of his neck and said, "Yeah, people usually do."-Menma.

Menma created a shadow clone and had it stay with all the homeless to teach them what he was gonna teach them.

Menma noticed that Minako was drifting off in her thoughts and grabbed her by the hand. She looked back at him with a blush and Menma walked her out of the place.

"We should go back home now."-Menma. Minako remained silent and they walked on. Menma turned the corner of the alley and noticed that there were Hagetaka members right there.

Menma backed up into the alley and thought of a way to avoid them. Menma came up with something and held both of Minako's hands. "Minako, this might make you a little nauseous."-Menma.

Minako looked confused and said, "Wait wh"- it was too late and Menma activated Kamui and teleported them both away.

They both teleported inside of their home and Minako got on her knees.

Menma leaned down next to her and checked on her, "Are you alright."-Menma. She nodded her head and said, "Yes, I'm just catching my breath."-Minako.

Then he apologized, "Sorry about that. But sense I'm considered an enemy of Hagetaka I can't have us scene together or else you'll be in danger."-Menma.

Minako stood back up and said, "I'm glad you're worried for me. But please give me a better warning next time."-Minako.

Menma nodded and asked, "So there was one more question I wanted to ask you."-Menma. "You want to know who this is right?"-Minako asked pointing at the picture of her family.

Menma nodded and Minako started walking towards her room and signalled Menma to follow. Once they were inside they both sat down on her bed and Minako said, "It's a long story so get comfortable."-Minako.

Minako cleared her throat and started, "I wasn't born in this village I come from a nearby noble land. In that land I am the adopted daughter of the king and I was ordered to marry the prince and become the next queen."-Minako.

Menma blinked a few times and asked, "So why did they adopt you?"-Menma. "The king was infertile so the prince was the only one who could help impregnate someone. And the prince couldn't just marry anyone, he had to marry someone who had some kind of royal blood in them. And although I'm technically don't have royal blood, I come from a clan that's considered valuable. Have you ever heard of the Uzumaki clan?"-Minako.

Menma's eyes widened and he remained silent. "I'm assuming you do know about this clan?"-Minako. Menma snapped out of it and started stroking his hair, "Yeah, I'm very familiar with it. My mom was a Uzumaki."-Menma. Now it was Minakos turn to be surprised and she was about to say something but Menma cut her off, "But before we start talking about being an Uzumaki, we should finish your story."-Menma.

Minako regained her posture and nodded. She continued, "I was unaware of their plan for the first 8 years I was there. I was only 18 once i found out what they've been planning. But before that life was actually really good. And while I Was a teenager, I fell in love with my husband Kagami."-Minako stated pointing at the black haired man in the family photo.

"We spent as much time as possible with each other for the next 8 years. We were both In love with each other... but then when I turned 18, it was time for me to marry the prince."-Minako.

I tried to protest but they weren't having any of it, when I told them who I already loved someone they tried to have him punished. They sent ninja to his house and tried to take him away, but his parents protected him and they died in the process. So me and him ran away until we ended up here. And we eventually had our daughter. You can infer on the rest."-Minako.

Menma sat there thinking for a second and asked, "So what is her full name?"-Menma. "It's Nozomi Uchiha."-Minako.

Menma became surprised again and thought, 'A baby coming from a Uchiha and Uzumaki, that's a powerful combination.' "So while you were a teenager did he ever have red eyes?"-Menma.

Minako nodded and said, "Yes, when I first met him he had red eyes after he protected me from a wild animal. He started out with 2 tomoe and he eventually had 3."-Minako.

"And once you were both adults did his eyes change again?"-Menma. "Yes, when we ran away from our home his eyes looked really strange, they had some kind of pinwheel pattern."-Minako.

Menma started thinking if it was okay to ask his next question. "So... is it ok if I ask"-"He was killed by Orochimaru... When Orochimaru's oppressive rule started he tried to oppose him. In response Orochimaru fought him along with at least a hundred Hagetaka members... he eventually died of exhaustion."-Minako.

Minako started to tear up, "One of the reasons we ran away was to escape the life of n-ninjas... but maybe i-if he trained he would have been able to beat them."-Minako.

Menma got closer to her and started to comfort her, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked."-Menma.

Minako wiped away her tears and regained her posture. "No, it's fine." She stood up, "Sometimes when I look out at the moonlit sky I start to wonder when they'll come back for me and end me."-Minako.

"Menma got a little more serious and replied, "Don't say that." Menma thought back to something he was told before and told her, "Don't think such pessimistic thoughts, I have no doubt that Kagami wouldn't want you thinking in such a morbid way, instead of constantly thinking of death you should look at the better things in life and try to be happy."-Menma.

Minako looked at him and giggled, "Menma, it's not like I want to die or anything." Minako lost her smile, "I more so consider it an inevitable fate."-Minako stated.

Menma was caught off guard by her response but before he could reply she exclaimed, "Well it's time for dinner!"-Minako.

Menma stood up and followed after. On the way to the kitchen Menma just kept on thinking, 'Orochimaru... Orochimaru... it's always Orochimaru that's ruining people's lives... but don't worry, I'm gonna get you soon.'-Menma.

When they arrived in the kitchen they saw Mina walk through the door. "Where have you been all day?"-Menma.

Mina walked past him and Minako said, "We're having dinner right now."-Minako. Mina waved her off and said, "I've been walking around all day, I'm going to sleep."-Mina.

Suigetsu walked out of his room and started walking towards the kitchen. "So what's for dinner?"-Suigetsu.

10 Minutes Later

All the food was set on the table and Suigetsu was about to dig in but Menma said, "Isn't Nozomi gonna come eat?"-Menma.

"Oh right, I almost forgot. Nozomi! Come get dinner!"-Minako. After a few seconds a door down the hallway opened and a girl came out.

When she walked into the line of sight Menma looked at her and realized she had a strong resemblance to Kushina when she was 13. The only visible difference was her raven black eyes.

She picked up the plate on the table and started walking back to her room but Minako stopped her, "Where do you think you're going? Don't you see these 2 people here? Introduce yourself."-Minako.

Nozomi started walking back towards the table reluctantly and sat down. Minako laughed under her breath and told Menma and Suigetsu, "Sorry, she's pretty shy around new people."-Minako.

Menma waved her off and said, "It's alright, I find it really cute."-Menma. Nozomi looked at both of them and spoke in a low tone, "Hello, my name is Nozomi Uchiha, and what's yours?"-Nozomi.

Suigetsu introduced himself first, "I'm Suigetsu Hozuki."-Suigetsu. "And I'm Menma Uzumaki. It's great to finally meet you!"-Menma stated holding out a hand for her to shake.

Nozomi held out her hand to shake his. Once their hands made contact it seemed like a normal handshake but Menma quickly felt a strange feeling in his arm.

He realized that the seal on his arm showed up again and he tried to pull away, but his arm wouldn't move. His arm quickly became enveloped in a white light and Menma could finally read part of the seal and saw that it said, "God's Understanding".

Menma was finally able to pull his arm off and the light on his arm settled. He had a strange voice in his head talking about how she's the key.

Menma snapped back to his senses and looked around the dinner table. Everyone was looking at him strangely and he apologized, "I'm sorry about that. I still don't know what this thing on my arm is so I can't really control it yet."-Menma.

"Well why don't you just go back to the guy that gave you the seal?"-Suigetsu. "Well... I can't, the person who gave it to me was a Vanir God and if I was gonna meet them I would need to know how to use another ability I still don't know how to use."-Menma.

Everyone looked at him confused and Menma sighed. "Nevermind, it would take a long time to explain everything to you. Let's just eat!"-Menma.

Later That Night

Menma just got out the shower and evaporated the water on his body before manifesting night clothes on his body. Menma sat on his bed and was getting ready to go to sleep but was interrupted when saw someone open his door.

Minako walked in with night clothes on and sat next to Menma. Menma blushed and asked, "Did you need something?"-Menma. Minako cleared her throat and told him, "We never finished our conversation about how your an Uzumaki and why your here."-Minako.

Menma smiled and cleared his throat, "Well then get comfortable, because it's a long story."-Menma.

The Next Morning

Menma woke up and tried to stretch out but realized he had arms wrapped around him. He looked down and saw Minako hugging him. He sighed and activated Kamui to slip out of her.

Menma got out of bed and slipped on his cloak. He looked back at his bed and looked at Minako's half naked body laying there. 'Man, good thing no one walked in or else they'd get the wrong idea. It was just really late when I finally finished my story so she ended sleeping here sense she was too tired to go back.'-Menma.

Menma walked out of his room and knocked on Suigetsu's door. Suigetsu opened the door and walked past him.

When they arrived in the kitchen Suigetsu saw Nozomi playing with his sword and ran over to her.

He picked her up and told her, "No! No playing with the sharp toys or you'll cut yourself."-Suigetsu. Nozomi nodded and sat on the table.

"So Menma are we ready? Or do you want to bring Mina with us?"-Suigetsu. Menma thought for a second then said, "Nah, we can do it ourselves."-Menma. "Are you sure? The group wouldn't really be Kitsune without her."-Suigetsu.

"Hmmm. Well I guess you're right."-Menma. Suigetsu walked back to his room and walked in.

Menma waited in the kitchen and waited for him. While waiting he looked around and saw Nozomi playing with Suigetsu's sword again.

He ran over to her and picked her up, "Nozomi. If you don't stop touching the sharp toy I'm gonna have to put you back in your room."-Menma. Nozomi shook her head and said, "No I promise I won't touch it!"-Nozomi.

Menma put her down and thought, 'Man, she's acting a lot different today than how she was acting yesterday. She gets comfortable with people pretty quickly.'-Menma.

Menma's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a crash coming from Suigetsu's room and he ran into the hallway.

Menma looked down the hallway and saw Mina shut the door on Suigetsu. Suigetsu started walking towards them while rubbing his head. "She's pretty grumpy this morning. How about you just make a shadow clone to look like her?"-Suigetsu.

Menma complied and did what he asked. Once the fake Mina was created Menma told Suigetsu, "Come on already. We've been wasting too much time here."-Menma. Suigetsu nodded and they both started running towards their destination.

On The Way

Kitsune was walking down a dirt road and were looking around. Suigetsu walked a newspaper stand and picked one up. He read the title and it stated that have been at least a dozen confirmed deaths in Hagetaka so far.

Menma was still looking around and noticed he was getting glares by certain people when he walked by. Menma frowned and started feeling uncomfortable. 'This reminds me a little too much of home.'-Menma.

"Hey Suigetsu, do you have any idea why everyone's acting like this?"-Menma. Suigetsu had a mixed look on his face showed Menma the paper he was looking at.

Menma read the newspaper and he was left with no words. He eventually said, "No. That can't be right... People like that?"-Menma. "Well only 2 of those guys we met were annoying, but they weren't annoying enough to kill. But I can't say anything about the 11 you've killed."-Suigetsu.

Menma stayed silent until he said, "I don't know anything about them. As soon as I saw them I killed them without letting them get a word in..."-Menma.

Menma felt like he was gonna fall and put his hand on a wall to regain his balance, "So now, because of me... 11 families are left without anyone to bring them income... I don't know what to think... once again I'm the bad guy. Like when I was talking to Mina about the other me's."-Menma.

They both remained silent for a while and Suigetsu dropped the newspaper on the ground. After a little while Menma's seal on his arm started glowing and Menma noticed it was the one from yesterday that said "Gods Understanding".

After a few seconds Menma jolted straight up and he felt enlightened. "I've considered the people of Hagetaka scum. But it seems like I generalized the whole group, I only knew part of the story from one side and didn't stop to think that there are people in there that joined for different reasons. A lot of people are doing the dirty work to protect their families, or maybe they have a criminal record they regret and can't get any other job... and I killed those poor men based off of my ignorant ideals..."-Menma.

Menma looked at Suigetsu and said, "I've learned a lesson. I have despised these people after what I heard about them and how they treat people with families, and I killed them because of it. But I didn't take into account that they also have families, and now those families probably despise me. It's like a... cycle of hatred... And I guess with this new found knowledge I'll try to end this ignorance that leads to hatred. Now I'm gonna have to atone for my sins. After we take care of this hideout I'm gonna go to each of the houses of the families and do whatever I need to do to make them feel better."-Menma.

They started walking again and Suigetsu felt amazed by Menma's speech. He thought, 'I never really thought of it that way' Suigetsu looked at Menma walking in front of him towards the sunset and he almost looked like the angel of death. He seemed pure and compassionate on both the inside and outside, but he was still capable of so much damage. Suigetsu smiled and thought, 'Menma, no matter what I won't let you die.'-Suigetsu.

Southern Hideout

Once they arrived they saw stairs leading down into the hideout and went in. Once inside Menma looked around and started getting a nostalgic feeling.

Menma was about to say something but felt a ticklish feeling on his back and saw a little girl holding on to his cloak. It was Nozomi.

Itachi And Kisame

The last remaining Akatsuki duo were currently sitting in a booth waiting for a waiter. A waiter got there and asked them, "What would you like to drink?"

They both said water and the waiter asked them, "Do you know what you want to eat yet or are you still deciding?" They made their decisions and told her their food.

The waiter wrote it all down and started walking away. While walking away he had a mischievous grin. 'Hahaha, you 2 must have forgotten about your arch nemesis Sado. HAHAHA, well don't you worry. Pretty soon I'll be burying you 2.'-Sado.

2 Minutes Later

Sado got their drinks and played them on a table. He put a small pill in the water which quickly dissolved and spit in it. He picked the drinks up and brought the drinks over to them.

Once he sat the drinks on the table he ran away to a nearby corner to watch. Kisame looked at his drink and picked it up.

He was about to drink it but Itachi started coughing wildly out of nowhere. A little bit of blood was coughed up and it landed in Kisame's drink. Sado's Jake dropped.

Kisame frowned and sat the drink down. "Aww now I can't drink it, hey Itachi are you okay?"-Kisame. Itachi nodded his head and said, "Yeah, it's just that I'm not getting any healthier."-Itachi.

Sado closed his mouth and started growling. After a few seconds he calmed himself down and said, Whatever, that's alright, I'll just have to poison your food."-Sado.

A Few Minutes Later

Sado came out with their food and set it on the table and said, "Enjoy."-Sado. Sado bolted over to a nearby corner and Kisame thought he was weird for running away sense there was no other person they were serving.

Kisame looked down at the food and had a smile on his face. His hand was reaching down towards it and Sado thought, "Haha, that food is covered in dart frog poison! Once you touch it you'll finally be done for!'-Sado.

Kisame's hand was about to touch his food out Itachi patted him on the shoulder. Kisame looked up and saw Itachi holding out a spoon towards him. "Oh right, sorry."-Kisame said slightly embarrassed.

Sado got a little annoyed but remained confident, 'No matter, you'll still die. That soup has rat poison and mercury in it!'-Sado.

Kisame picked out a chunk of food from the small soup bowl and brought it up to his mouth, but before he could eat It someone was thrown in his direction and all of their food was splattered across the walls and floors.

Sado dropped to the ground and said, "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!?! They must have some divine power on their side or something!"-Sado.

Kisame stood up and felt extremely annoyed, he left his booth and said, "Come on Itachi, I lost my appetite."-Kisame.

As they were leaving another person was thrown in Kisame's direction, but this time he caught him and threw him back, knocking out the people who were fighting

A Few Minutes Later

They both walked out of the bar and Sado ran towards the door. 'This plan is the most typical of them all but I gotta do what I gotta do.'-Sado.

Sado got a bamboo straw and made sure the poison needle was in there. He blew it at Kisame's neck and thought, 'That needle is covered in King Cobra poison, so please die this time.'-Sado.

The projectile was closing in on Kisame and Kisame stopped walking. He looked down and saw something shiny, he bent over and picked it up, causing the needle to fly right over him.

Kisame looked at the gold coin that was decorated with jewels and asked Itachi, "Hey Itachi, how much do you think this is worth"-Kisame. Itachi looked at the coin and said, "The bare minimum price for that would be 8,000,000 ryo."-Itachi. Kisame put the coin in his pocket. Sado felt defeated and yelled at them, "You bastards! I may not have managed to kill you today! But I swore I would get you, so you better watch out!"-Sado.

They both looked back at him in confusion. "Do you know this guy?"-Kisame. "I don't think so. Let's go."-Itachi.

They both started walking away and Sado sat there in silence, "They didn't even remember me."-Sado

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. But I've been playing the new Sekiro Dies twice game a lot lately. But I'll try to balance my time between Sekiro and writing this book


	16. Southern Hideout

It was early morning and Asuma walked out of his home. Asuma smelled the fresh air and tried to take a deep breath, but when he did he reflexively coughed.

Asuma sniffled and walked towards the training ground 10. On the way there he saw Ino come out of the Yamanaka flower shop.

He ran over to her and greeted her, "Good morning Ino."-Asuma. Ino was startled and jumped. She turned around and greeted him, "Good morning Asuma sensei, you're up early."-Ino.

"I couldn't sleep very well so I decided to go to the training grounds early."-Asuma. "Well I was heading that way anyway so I guess I can join you."-Ino.

They both started walking and Asuma asked, "Are Shikamaru and Choji already there?"-Asuma. "Hmmmm, Shikamaru usually sleeps in but after our near death experience with Hidan and Kakazu he seems more awake, so I think he'll be there. And Choji... he might take a while, you already know he needs at least 3 breakfasts just so he can leave his house."-Ino.

Asuma tried letting out a laugh at the joke but when he tried to laugh he started coughing violently. They both stopped walking and Asuma coughed a few more times before blood came out of his mouth. He pulled out a spare napkin and wiped the blood off of his hand.

Ino asked in a worried tone, "Sensei are you ok?!"-Ino. Asuma waved her off and lied, "Yeah I'm fine."-Asuma. "Was that blood?"-Ino.

"No no, I had a cherry popsicle earlier so my saliva looks red."-Asuma led once again. Ino accepted that answer and they continued onto the training ground.

Southern Hideout Entrance

Menma picked up Nozomi and got frantic, "Nozomi! What are you doing here?!?! You can't be here, this place is dangerous!"-Menma.

"I wanted to see what you do all day when you're out!"-Nozomi. "You're too young to know about this job!"-Menma.

Nozomi frowned a little, "Menma, do you work at a brothel in the woods?"-Nozomi. Menma got a little red from embarrassment, "N-NO! It's nothing like that!"-Menma.

Nozomi smiled, "Well then think of it like take your daughter to work day!"-Nozomi. Menma got redder, "DAUGHTER?!?"-Menma. Suigetsu decided to join in on the fun and said, "Ooooooh, is that why Minako was in your room last night?"-Suigetsu asked with a devilish smile.

Menma got on a Hinata level of red and

asked lightly, "You saw that?"-Menma. Suigetsu was surprised and he said, "No I was only joking, but seriously?"-Suigetsu asked with a mixed look.

Menma took a deep breath and he returned back to normal, "We can talk about that later. Menma looked at Nozomi, "Fine, you can stay for a little while. But if things get too bad or mature I'm sending you back, got it?"-Menma. Nozomi nodded and they headed in the hideout.

While walking down the hall Menma thought, 'Nozomi is a bit of a mystery. She was shy at first but warmed up to us quickly, she sounds happy now but I can tell she's nervous being out in the open, she must have saw that her mother was asleep and didn't want to be left alone.'-Menma.

Menma's thoughts were interrupted when he felt weight on his back and saw that Nozomi was holding on to him. He smiled and propped her up on top of his shoulders.

Menma crouched and activated his arm seal. When he could see the symbols on it he placed his hand on the ground and gathered A huge amount of sage chakra.

Menma opened his eyes and revealed the golden cross pattern in his eyes. He got into a criss-cross position and started sending the surroundings in the hideout.

Near Training Ground 10

Ino and Asuma turned the corner and the training ground was in sight. Ino started jogging and said, "We should race there!"-Ino. Asuma agreed and started jogging alongside her. "Ok, 1...2...3!"-Ino.

They both jolted towards the entrance at full speed. The entire run was 70 meters. They were both less than 10 meters away from the finish line and Asuma was 5 meters ahead.

He was about to touch the finish line but before he could he felt light headed and thought he was gonna pass out, 'How am I out of energy so fast?'-Asuma. Asuma passed through the Training ground entrance but as soon as he did he passed out.

Southern Hideout

Menma stood up and started walking towards the door. "So what's it looking like?"-Suigetsu. "There are hundreds of chakra signatures in here, but most of them are faint, so I'm assuming they're prisoners. But I think Toshiro was wrong about this place having almost no guards."-Menma.

Menma made eye contact with Suigetsu and said, "There are at least 120 hostiles in there."-Menma. Suigetsu got a little excited and gripped the handle of his blade, but then he lost his smile and asked, "You aren't gonna say I can't kill them this time ars you?"-Suigetsu.

Menma smirked and said, "When I'm in sage mode I can sense all the chakras around me, and sense this is the 6 paths sage mode I can go into even more detail, I can see what kind of chakras people have and tell if their good or malicious. I can even faintly see recent memories of them if I pay enough attention!" Menma turned around, "And when I look in the room out of all the hostiles only about 10 of them have good family relations, so I'll deal with them."-Menma.

Suigetsu laughed a little under his breath and said, "How come every time I talk to you you always have a new ability?"-Suigetsu. Menma laughed and said, "I don't know, but since I've been getting a lot of good sleep lately I think I'm gonna start studying those seal books and the Rinnegan scroll." Menma lost his smile, "We're already in the sound village, our journey is nearly halfway done... but I just wanna let you know, if you don't wanna be here you can leave, I don't wanna force you to do anything you don't want to, and I won't think any less of you."-Menma.

Suigetsu closed his eyes and said, "Menma, in the time I've known you, although it's annoying when I can't kill someone, being around you has helped me suppress my urges. And on top of that... I don't know how to say this, but it always feels like you have an aura around you that always carries fortune. And I guess that's why I can call you a friend."-Suigetsu.

Suigetsu was about to continue and opened his eyes but when he did he realized that Menma was crying. "Hey hey hey! You're even more emotional than before!"-Suigetsu. Menma wiped away his joyful tears and said, "Sorry, I'm still not good at controlling my emotions, but come on. We gotta job to do."-Menma.

They both walked towards the door and Menma put his hand on the door handle, but before he good open it Suigetsu made "ahem" sound.

Menma looked at him and Suigetsu pointed at Nozomi. Menma nervously laughed and realized he forgot she was there, "I'm no parent but I don't think she should see what's gonna happen here."-Suigetsu.

"Yeah, hold on, I'll be right back."-Menma. Menma grabbed Nozomi's hand and they both went to the Kamui dimension.

Kamui Dimension

Menma opened his eyes and saw that he was in a corridor. He looked around and noticed that the place was actually pretty clean. Menma felt someone poke his shoulder and turned around to see Menma.

Menma was still in sage mode so he could see Menma's chakra. But when he did he noticed that the chakra was almost in the middle of good and malicious. Menma looked him in his red and black eyes and almost thought he saw a sense of sadness in them.

"Hey Menma, it's been awhile since we've spoken."-Menma. Menma was still surprised and noticed that his voice was a lot calmer now, and seemed almost friendly.

Menma finally snapped out of his trance and said, "Hey Menma, how has the torture been?"-Menma. "Please, don't call me Menma anymore, just call me Kaikaku. But about the torture... it's been fine."-Kaikaku said chuckling under his breath. 'Kaikaku, that means reform.'-Menma. "Have you ever done something so much, that you lose interest in it? Even if it's your most favorite thing in the world, like some kind of food for example, have you ever eaten it so much that it loses its specialness and you become bored of it cause you've already memorized every little detail about it?"-Kaikaku.

Menma thought about ramen and how it's basically his primary food source. "Well the ramen almost always taste good, but after eating it for so long it starts tasting disgusting and you need to take a break, it's like soup or broth. When you have the flu you usually have it as your primary food source, but after a couple of weeks, whether you still have the flu or not, the soup starts to taste disgusting and you think you might vomit."-Kaikaku.

Menma nodded and Kaikaku said, "Well after awhile it starts to seem trivial and tedious, I've come up with so many fun ideas, but in the end it's always gonna be the same reaction... but I've recently had an amazing experience." Kaikaku looked at Menma, "I think your personality rubbed off on me a little, cause depending on how evil they are I start to feel a little like my old self, it's as if I wanna punish them for the severity of their crimes. Kaikaku laughed in a confused tone. He looked a little crazy when he laughed and he said, "Now, Haha. Isn't that funny? Someone, haha, like me that claimed they killed indiscriminately, actually caring about people?! Hahahahaha!"-Kaikaku. Kaikaku was pulling on his hair and looked confused.

Menma became concerned and walked up to Kaikaku. He put a hand on his shoulder and said, "That's not a bad thing, that just proves that you're becoming more human. Remember the famous quote violent delights will be met with violent ends? Well because of this reform you might be forgiven."-Menma.

Kaikaku looked at him and asked, "Forgiven by who?"-Kaikaku. "Well I've already forgiven you, when we first met I was hostile towards you and you were trying to use me, but now... I think I could even call you a friend."-Menma.

Kaikaku gave him a smile and a look showing many different emotions. "After all I did, you'd really forgive me?"-Kaikaku. Menma gained a wide smile, "Well if it weren't for you I would have died in that pit, and sense Sasuke was still alive at that point I wouldn't have come back to life... so even though you killed Sasuke, I can't help but thank you. Cause if it weren't for you I wouldn't have a chance to save everyone from those Aesir Gods."-Menma.

Kaikaku smiled his first pure smile in all of his existence and simply said, "I'm glad I got to be a part of you, Menma."

Nozomi walked up to Menma and pulled on his cloak. Menma looked down at her and remembered the reason he came here in the first place. "Hey Kaikaku, can you do me a favor?"-Menma.

Kaikaku nodded and Menma showed him the little girl, "Can you take care of this little girl while I liberate some prisoners being held captive?"-Menma.

Kaikaku looked unsure and said, "Well I've never been around any kids, but I'll try."-Kaikaku. Menma smiled and said, "That's great! But all of your rooms are torture rooms, so maybe I should make a "- Menma was cut off when he saw that Kaikaku already created a kids room.

Kaikaku noticed the surprised look on Menma's face and said, "Are you surprised I can do what you can?" Menma nodded and Kaikaku said, "Well out of all the personalities you have I've always been the most compatible and the one that's been around the longest. I'm practically you, so it only makes sense that I would be able to do anything you can do." Kaikaku rolled up his sleeve on his right arm, "I even have this weird seal on my right arm, you have one on your left arm right?"-Kaikaku.

Menma rolled his sleeve and showed his left arm, "Yeah." Kaikaku rolled back down his sleeve and said, "Well, I'm not sure how any of this stuff works yet but I think you should go back now, your friend is waiting for you."-Kaikaku.

Menma nodded and started disappearing, "See ya Kaikaku, and don't worry Nozomi I'll be back."-Menma.

Southern Hideout

Menma appeared right back in front of the door and Suigetsu said, "You've been gone for a while."-Suigetsu. "Sorry, I had a little talk with a friend of mine."-Menma.

Suigetsu stood up. "Well that doesn't matter now, c'mon. We gotta job to do."-Suigetsu.

They both walked towards the door and Menma said, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. There is this one sealing technique I learned, I call it a restriction seal. Basically what it does is increase the gravity of everything around me in a meters radius. So let's say if I was in a fist fight, the other guy would be slower than a drunk."-Menma. Suigetsu sweat dropped and said, "Don't you ever lose track of all these powers you have?"-Suigetsu. Menma put his hand on his head and said, It's easier to remember than you think."-Menma responded as he placed his hand on the door and pushed it open.

Menma looked around and found the good chakras, he quickly dashed past everyone without them realizing it and fazed all 10 of them into walls. Everyone heard the sound of their screams and looked in their direction.

Menma called out to Suigetsu and said, "Alright, we can cut loose now!"-Menma. Suigetsu walked through the door and locked his lips. All 120 of the hostiles split into 2 groups of 60 and started attacking them.

Menma purposely jumped into the middle of the group and made a hand gesture for them to come at him.

Everyone started attacking him at once his punches kicks and weapons and Menma put himself on the defensive. But no matter how much they attacked him or how fast the strikes were he could dodge them all.

'So this is what ultra instinct feels like... wait that's the wrong anime. So this is what 6 paths sage mode is like, I can dodge everything so naturally.

Eventually Menma decided to go on the offensive and jumped into the air, he was going to pounce on someone put they had a spear and pointed it up so that Menma would land on it. 'Oh? That's pretty smart.'-Menma.

But before Menma could be impaled by the spear he placed one finger on the tip of it and balanced on it. While they were shocked at what he did Menma mixed Amaterasu with a fireball jutsu and incinerated everyone in the group except for 5 people.

Looking around Suigetsu was still cutting his remaining 40 people to pieces and on Menma side the ground was pure ash and small black flames, but the spear that Menma was balancing on still remained.

Menma slide down the spear and deactivated his sage mode before gathered all of the Amaterasu flames into the tip of the spear. He compressed the flames into a small little candle and started rushing at the remaining 5.

They were all shook in fear and Menma was only a few meters away from them, but before he could pierce them he felt a giant jolt of pain in his ankle and fell over.

Menma groaned in pain and looked at where he got hit, he thought there would be a kunai in his leg because he was too focused on the other 5. But instead he saw a hole going straight through his leg, like something metal went right through his body.

'What the hell happened? I didn't hear the sound until it had already hit me, and once I did hear the sound it extremely loud. What the hell was it?'-Menma.

Menma's thoughts were cut off when the man who hit him walked up to him and pointed the strange weapon at him.

Menma examined it and came up with an analysis, 'It's black, and he's holding it in a way that the hole is aimed at me. He has 3 fingers wrapped around the handle/grip and his pointer finger is on a tiny curved lever. Is that some kind of trigger?'-Menma.

The man pulled back on a small hammer like object with his thumb and pulled back the chamber of the weapon and started pulling on the trigger. Menma tensed up and thought, 'It's about to go off! I'm gonna have time my Kamui and quickly kill him!'-Menma.

Time almost seemed like it was in slow motion and Menma's eyes started spinning like a pinwheel. Menma saw the trigger hit the back of the trigger guard and he activated Kamui. Ignoring his pain he trusted up the man and the small metal projectile went right through him. In the mans shock Menma grabbed his arm and chopped it off with the sage blade before kicking through his torso. But Menma didn't finish there and made a thornbush along with branches grow on his leg while it was still inside the man.

Menma shoved him off and looked down at his leg and saw that it had already healed. Menma smiled and looked at the remaining 4. He activated his 1 meter gravity seal and rushed towards them.

He punched one in the head and his fist went clean through his skull, revealing brain matter and splashing blood everywhere. Menma was a bit surprised but dispatched of the other 3 with a powerful sidekick with branches attached on them that instantly killed them since it stabbed their liver and heart.

Menma calmed down and thought, 'Hmmm, I don't think I'm that strong, so maybe the increased gravity increased the force of my fist by magnitudes. These abilities just get better and better!'-Menma.

Menma's self praise was quickly cut off when he felt the hair rise on his left side that was followed by a loud boom of sound. He thought, 'Damn it! I just remembered that there was 5 of them! The last guy must have ran away towards the arm I cut off to pick up that weapon, damn it! The speed of the projectile is too fast for the gravity to affect it good enough, and I don't have time to use Kamui because it will take too long to activate my EMS. I guess I'll just have to dodge it the best I can.'-Menma.

Menma channeled electric chakra throughout his body and got his adrenaline running as fast as possible, while at the same time he was ducking under the bullet.

The bullet made contact with his head and digged past his skin. The bullet shattered parts of his skull and was about to touch his brain, but before it could Menma had ducked low enough for the bullet to graze his brain.

After a few seconds Menma tried to stand up but his ears were ringing and he felt light headed. After stumbling for a few seconds he lost his balance and fell on to the ground. Menma tried to stand up again but his entire body felt numb and he was in pain. He felt like he wasn't in his own body and put his hand on his head. When he looked at his hand he saw that it was covered in blood and his vision started becoming darker and lighter at the same time.

Menma look at the up at the man who was holding the weapon and thought, 'Da-da... dahm et... I ca-...can't th...think... straight, I th-think this... is it.'-Menma.

Menma saw the man place his finger on the trigger and Menma tried standing up with everything he had like earlier but it was futile. Menma thought that the wound would have healed by now but it seemed like the higher up a wound is on his body the longer it takes to heal, and the wound on his head hasn't started healing at all yet, so Menma wasn't even sure if head injuries would heal by themselves.

Menma was starting to lose hope but he remembered he still had one thing left he could try. 'My chakra is hard to control sense I'm in this bad of a condition. But sense he's at point black range this should be good enough.'-Menma. Jenna channeled a burst of chakra into his eyes and they transformed. The sclera of his eyes turned red and his pupil expanded and turned Into a complex pinwheel design.

Menma's left eye started bleeding and his eye became bloodshot. The man in front of him instantly burst into scorching black flames and he dropped the weapon.

Suigetsu ran over to Menma and put him in his arms. Menma's lights were fading and he was seconds away from passing out from the sheer pressure his brain and body was under.

Menma used the remaining of his strength to point at the weapon on the ground and told Suigetsu, "Bring that with us." And passed.

Hidden Leaf Village

Asuma was walking down his usual path towards his home, and everything seemed normal. But if you looked into his eyes there was a hidden despair in them.

He was cut out of his thoughts when he heard one of his students walk up to him. It was Choji. "Hey sensei, I'm glad you're already feeling better. The doctor had us leave after we brought you there so we didn't get to know if you're sick or not. Are you alright?"-Choji.

Asuma wanted to say that he wasn't ok, but he didn't want his students worrying about him, he thought, 'No Choji, I have something much worse than feeling ill, I have lung cancer.' But he couldn't say that. "Yeah Choji, I'm fine, but I'm in a hurry so I don't have time to talk."-Asuma.

Choji said, "Alright." and walked off. Asuma continued towards his house and thought, 'How long do I intend on hiding this?' He stayed in his thoughts for the rest of the walk, and kept on having coughing fits along the way.

Minako's House

Menma opened his eyes and looked around. Menma looked outside the window and felt blinded by the brightness. He recoiled and covered his eyes.

Once his eyes adjusted he saw Nozomi in the corner of the room and wondered what she was doing there. Her eyes were baggy and Menma instantly thought, 'Has she been staying up this whole time waiting for me to wake up?'-Menma.

But before Menma could dwell on the thought the curtains closed and Menma saw an unfamiliar face standing there. The man was about 6ft tall and wore a black and white suit along with a matching black bowler hat. He was had a burly build and had a gray mustache that rested on his chin.

Menma was about to say something but the man put his fingers up to his lips and said, "Shhh. Don't be too loud, that little girl needs her sleep after everything that's been happening."

Menma was overwhelmed by the presence of the man, but not in a stressful way, it was like his aura cleansed his soul of all sins and stress. The man opened his mouth and said, "You're lucky I came by child, if I didn't you would still be asleep for another month."

Menma sat up out of his bed and felt extremely lightheaded, as if he would pass out again. He sat back down and slowly got up this time. Once he felt comfortable he asked, "How do you know about what I've been doing?"-Menma.

"I know everything child, nothing can be hidden from me." The man stated. Menma found that to be a weird response and asked another question, "Who are you?"-Menma.

"I go by many names my child, Adonai, Jehovah, Yahweh. But you can call whatever you like." Menma felt most comfortable with Adonai and asked, "Who exactly are you Adonai? I don't sense any chakra in you, so are you even human?"-Menma.

Adonai remained silent and after a few seconds Menma asked, "Did you hear me?"-Menma. Adonai snapped back to his senses and said, "I'm sorry child, I'm more used to people calling me father. But I am not known of by your people so it's understandable."-Adonai.

Menma felt awkward in the man's presence, he wasn't sure if this guy was completely sane. He asked again, "Are you human?"-Menma. Adonai smirked and said, "Human... I wish I was human, I sometimes wonder what it's like to have all that freedom... isn't it great being human? A lot of people take it for granted and say they wish they were something like a dragon, or a bird... or even a God. What do you think about being human?"-Adonai.

"Ummm, life as a human has its moments."-Menma. "Hmmm, well enjoy humanity, humanity is something precious that you don't want to lose... but when it comes to you, you probably won't remain one for much longer."-Adonai.

Adonai turned around and started becoming transparent. Menma yelled, "Wait! I still don't know who you are! And what do you mean I won't be human much longer?!"-Menma.

Adonai glanced at him and said, " I'll tell you this. That seal on your arm is called the God Seal, Freya gave it to you and I amplified it's abilities with my own. The current capabilities of it are to defy your own fate and give you insight, but once you've mastered all of its abilities no one will be able to come close to you in capabilities, not even that arrogant child Odin."-Adonai.

Menma absorbed everything he just heard and Adonai continued, "Oh, and one last thing. When Minako says she has fulfilled her destiny, don't try to save her."-Adonai.

The last comment made Menma's heart jump and he yelled, "Wait!" But it was too late, he was already gone.

Menma stood there alone and was left to his thoughts. He heard the front door open and saw Suigetsu and Mina there. Suigetsu ran towards him with a smile and said, "You bastard, we almost thought you died!"-Suigetsu. Mina walked in and said, "He's too stubborn to die."-Mina.

Menma asked, "Did you guys see a tall overweight old man walk somewhere near here?"-Menma. Suigetsu and Mina shook their heads and Suigetsu asked, "Why do you ask?"-Suigetsu.

Menma was about to tell them but for some reason he felt like he shouldn't so he kept his mouth shut. "Nevermind, it's nothing important, so how long have I been out?"-Menma.

"You've been out for a whole week, some old guy named Akiro came over to check on you, he said you would be out for a whole month! How are you up in a week? Your head still seems damaged." Suigetsu pointed out pointing at the bandages wrapped around Menma's head.

"I don't know how, but I feel kinda like someone's watching over me." Menma said looking up at the sky outside the window.

They remained silent for a few more seconds the Menma said, "I wanna go check on Minako so that she doesn't have to worry about me anymore." Menma stated as he looked at Nozomi. He found it heart warming that she's been sitting here waiting for him to wake up.

Menma decided he would wait until she woke up to tell her and started walking out. But before he could walk out of the door Suigetsu said, "I just remembered!" And he pulled out the strange weapon that shattered Menma's skull. "You told me to bring this with us. What do you need it for?"-Suigetsu.

Menma waved him off and said, "I just wanna know what it is, but I'm glad you reminded me. I completely forgot about it."-Menma. Suigetsu gave him a thumbs up and Menma walked out.

Menma looked down both sides of the wall and thought, 'Which way goes outside again?'-Menma. Menma decided to go right and started walking down the hallway. Once he arrived in the kitchen he finally regained his core balance and looked outside the back door.

He saw Minako there and smiled. He opened the back door. He walked out and decided to sneak up on her. He merged into a tree and spied on her.

He saw her picking apples and decided what his plan would be. He saw that she was reaching up to the branches to pick the apples. He decided to make it easier and manipulated the trees to drop apples.

She heard an apple fall behind her and walked over to it. She put it in the basket and was about to start reaching up to the branches again, but Menma made another apple fall and she walked over to it and picked it up again.

After she picked it up another one fell and she caught it this time. Then she put it in the basket. Menma decided to make the challenge harder and started making multiple apples drop from the tree.

She started running around and picking them up. She said, "Why are these apples growing so fast?"-Minako. After a minute passed the apples stopped falling and her basket was full.

She had to catch her breath and placed the basket on the ground. Once she caught her breath she looked down at the basket but realized it wasn't there. She looked around and saw that roots were carrying it off.

"Oh come on!"-Minako complained as she started chasing after it. Eventually the basket came across a tree and hid behind it. Minako saw it go behind the tree and rushed towards it.

But when she turned the tree instead of being met with a basket full of apples she was met with a chest. After getting over her surprise she looked up at the face the chest belonged too and saw Menma's face.

She stood there for a few seconds out of shock and Menma eventually said, "Good morning Minako. I came back here to tell you that I'm fine now, and that"- Menma was cut off when Minako wrapped her soft arms around him in a warm embrace.

Menma was slightly surprised by the action but quickly replied to the sudden action with a hug in return. Menma felt like his chest was getting slightly wet and looked down to see a couple tears in Minako's eyes. "I was starting to think you wouldn't wake up."-Minako.

Menma smiled and said, "Minako"-"Promise me you won't do anything so reckless again! I don't want you being so care free when your in a place like that, you almost died..."-Minako.

Menma smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "I promise I won't be reckless on my missions again. Could you let go so we can go back inside now?"-Menma.

Minako shook her head and dug her head into Menma's chest. "Can we stay like this longer?"-Minako. Menma sighed and said, "Ok."

Menma looked up at the blue sky and almost thought he saw a silhouette of Adonai in the sky. And he thought, "He was right, humanity is nice. Especially when you have friends there with you."-Menma.

Wow, it's been an entire month since I've updated. I'm sorry for the accidental hiatus but I ended up getting too distracted by Sekiro. But now that I've got the platinum trophy for it I should be able to upload like I used to.

It just feels discouraged when no one leaves a comment on a chapter and I feel like people didn't really enjoy anything so I end up not writing, but hopefully people are still enjoying this.


	17. Recovering

I'm renaming Olivia to Hachi so that the character won't seem to be a copy of a character from Baki that he's inspired by. Also the name Hachi has more lore behind it.

Menma walked inside the house and saw Suigetsu leaving out the front door. Menma ran up to him and asked him, "Where ya going?"-Menma.

"Nowhere special, I'm just going out for a walk. So are you gonna spend your time looking at that gun today?"-Suigetsu. Menma was surprised by the word he used and asked, "Gun?"

Suigetsu shrugged his shoulders, "Well the guy who shot you kept on screaming I NEED MY GUN while he was burning. So that's why I said that."-Suigetsu.

Menma accepted that answer with a nod and answered his earlier question, "Well I'm just gonna spend my time on the gun today, I might stay in tomorrow too. I promised Minako that I wouldn't be acting so recklessly anymore."-Menma.

Suigetsu smirked and said, "Ya know you've been awfully close with her lately."-Suigetsu. Menma had a light blush and said, "It's not like that. We're just really good friends. We both have traits that we like about each other."-Menma.

Suigetsu put his hand on his chin and said, "Oh really like what?"-Suigetsu. Menma cleared his throat and said, "Well she her natural nature is to help other people even if it hurts her. Financially for example, how she feeds all of the homeless. And she's kind, welcoming, and"- Menma stopped his rambling when he noticed that Suigetsu was holding back a giggle.

"You sound like you're talking about someone you have a crush on!"-Suigetsu. Menma blushed more and accepted defeat. He smiled and said, "Whatever man, just go for your walk."-Menma.

Suigetsu turned around and started leaving out the front door but he stopped and said, "Oh, I almost forgot to say. After you were unconscious I went to the prisoners cell's and freed them." Suigetsu looked down, "There conditions weren't pretty. All of them had malnourished bodies they all looked dead inside. I initially thought the prisoners would be used as slaves but in the condition they're in they couldn't be used that way. So I'm not sure what they were there for, can you guess why?"-Suigetsu.

Menma thought for a minute and he remembered what he saw when he was held captive in Orochimaru's hideout before. "The only 2 things I can think of are torture or experimentation. But although Orochimaru is a gigantic sadist, he won't waste his time torturing people if he isn't gonna get something out of it. So they were most likely being held there so that he could use them in his experiments."-Menma.

Suigetsu nodded and accepted that answer. "Alright, that's all I wanted to know. See ya later." Suigetsu responded as he started walking away. Menma made up his mind for what he'll be doing until he fully recovers. Today he will spend all day home mostly looking at the gun, and tomorrow we'll go out to see the families of the multiple people he's killed like he promised. But he'll have to be careful because he doubts he'll be completely healed by tomorrow.

Menma heading back towards his room and walked down the hall. He glanced back into Nozomi's room and saw that she was still asleep. He continued walking and arrived at his door and opened it.

He walked inside and was half expecting to see Adonai standing in the corner of his room. Once he confirmed he wasn't there he looked at the gun on his desk and sat down in front of it.

Menma picked up the weapon and examined it. Menma tried remembering what happened when the man used the gun but couldn't remember anything. "Damn, the only thing I remember about the weapon is that it's the reason why I can't remember."-Menma.

Before Menma could dwell on his thoughts any further he heard a knock on the door and said, "Come in." The person who knocked the door opened and revealed them self as Mina.

Mina walked up to him and pulled out blueprints and a guide. "Last week I felt bad about not going with you so I decided to go to the hideout by myself. And once I went there I quickly realized that you and Suigetsu already left so I decided to go searching for anything you might've missed. And I found an archive room that had that information about the gun in them."-Mina.

Menma smiled and said, "Thanks Mina, was there anything else there?"-Menma. Mina nodded and responded, "Yes, I also found out the reason why people were brought there, they were"-"They were being used for experimenting right?"-Menma.

"It seems like you already known, but do you know why they're being experimented on? Or what they're being experimented on with?"-Mina.

Menma's interest was peaked and he asked, "No, could you tell me?"-Menma. Mina cleared her throat and said, "No one knows, you would think it's for his pursuit in knowledge but no one knows, apparently Kabuto asked him once and he just muttered about attaining divine knowledge and obtaining the golden eyes. It seems like he's been losing parts of what little sanity he's had in these past 2 years."-Mina.

Menma leaned back in his chair and said, "So he's still after me huh?"-Menma. "But, I do know what he's experimenting with." Menma signalled for her to continue and she said, "They are experimenting with 2 things. The first thing they are experimenting with is sage chakra. Apparently there's a clan that has a Kekki Genkai that let's them naturally absorb Sage energy. Although it seems like the majority of this clan is dead, but Orochimaru seems to have the last surviving member in his custody that he's using to experiment on the rest of the prisoners."-Mina.

Menma placed his hand bnb on his chin and said, "A Kekkei Genkai for nature energy huh? Did it say what the sage energy was like? Cause when I was with the toads in Mt.Myoboku he told me that there are all different kinds of sage energies."-Menma.

Mina shook her head and said, "No, that was all it said about it, but it did say his name was Jugo."-Mina. "Uh huh, well that's too bad but what was the other thing they were experimenting with?"-Menma.

Mina gained a reluctant look on her face and said, "The other one they did had to do with animals. The document described humans being tested on in multiple ways by mixing them with animals. Some of the ways they did this was... was by... sorry, I don't feel comfortable saying it."-Mina.

Menma understood and said, "That's ok, all I need to know is that it's bad and needs to be stopped." Menma stretched and said, "Is there anything else at all that you found out?"-Menma asked while taking a sip of water.

Mina smiled and said, "Well I found out where the Western hideout is."-Mina. Menma almost choked on his drink and had to regain his composure. After a few seconds he looked up at her and shot up out of his chair to ask, "Seriously?! Did you really find one so soon." After Menma finished his sentence he sat back down and rubbed his head to recover from the dizziness.

"Yes, in the archives it said that it was located near the Hachi tribute statue."-Mina. Menma had a curious look and asked, "The Hachi Tribute statue?" 'Where have I heard that name before?'-Menma.

"Yeah. What, you don't know who Hachi is yet?"-Mina. Menma shook his head and Mina responded, "That's surprising, you've been out in the village much longer than me but I know about the village hero." Menma was getting a little annoyed and said, "C'mon just tell me who he is."-Menma.

"He was the leader of the Hagetaka gang before they became evil. He was someone who liberated the sound village with just his Taijutsu alone!"-Mina.

"Taijutsu huh? That's interesting."-Menma. Mina frowned, "You seem to be acting pretty bland lately."-Mina. Menma rubbed the back of his head and said, "Oh really? I'm sorry, it must be a side effect of getting shot in the head. But I'll be back to normal soon...anyways, I'm glad that you were able to find out so much while I was unconscious, but I should get back to my work now."-Menma.

"Alright, well I don't have anything to do right now so I can sit here and watch for a minute." Mina stated as she sat on the bed.

Menma shrugged and turned towards the gun in his desk. He activated his sharingan and starting skimming through the documents and the blueprints.

Menma laid the papers back down on the desk and started talking, "It seems like this is the 1st successful model ever created. They attempted different designs for guns before this but they had problems like a lack of accuracy, or they were just too heavy. They managed to avoid the accuracy problem by creating a smaller barrel for the bullet, but sense the bullet is a lower caliber it does a lot less damage." Menma started rubbing his forehead. "Wow, I'm pretty sure if I created a spiral pattern inside the barrel that would fix the accuracy problem, but I'm glad they didn't think of that or else I would be dead."-Menma.

Mina pulled an ammo box and said, "Well they had a box filled with different kinds of bullets in it, so you can see which one of these goes with it."-Mina. Menma smiled and accepted the box.

"Just so you know there are only a few of each bullet in there, so where are you gonna get more? I could raid a warehouse if you want."-Mina. "That's not necessary, I can use my creation ability to make more bullets if I want."-Menma.

Menma resized the gun barrel and imprinted a spiral pattern inside of it. Mina had a confused look on her face and asked, "Hey Menma, why do you have your Rinnegan on?"-Mina.

Menma realized that his eyes were the steely purple rinnegan and also gained a confused look. He started thinking about how that could have happened, until he finally realized, "Hold on. My Yin Yang creation ability can only create things that are natural in this world, like rocks, water, and fruit. But this gun is a man made object." A lightbulb went off in Menma's head, "So that must mean! That the rinnegans 3rd ability is creating man made things, what an odd ability."-Menma.

Mina mocked him and said, "Ya know if you stopped wasting your time and read the rinnegan scroll already you would know all of the abilities."-Mina.

Menma pulled out the biggest bullet that said .500 sumisu and esson and loaded it into the gun. Menma aimed it outside and paused for a second. "In the documents it also said that it's extremely loud and they've been working on some kind of suppressor for it. But I wanna test how loud it is first before I make one."-Menma.

Menma felt an instinctive feeling that he shouldn't shoot it, but he ignored it and aimed at a tree. Menma used his thumb and pulled back on the hammer and his hand to pull back on the slide of the gun."Be careful, the document said that the first few people who tested the prototype broke their wrist when they fired the version with big bullets."-Mina.

Menma responded, "I know." And placed both of his hands firmly on the grip. Menma placed his finger on the trigger and pulled. The gun fired an explosion of smokeless powder and an extremely loud bang went along with it.

After a few seconds Mina recovered from the loud sound and looked over at Menma. "Yeah that was extremely loud, you'll definitely need to make a suppressor for it."-Mina. Mina looked at the tree and saw the hole in the tree that the gun left behind.

Mina got off the bed and walked towards Menma. "So what do you think of it?"-Mina. No response.

Mina asked again, "Hey Menma did you hear me?"-Mina. Mina still got no response and looked at him. His hands were shaking and he was sweating profusely. He dropped the gun and Mina caught it before it could hit the ground and possibly go off.

Mina hid the gun under the bed and got worried, so she called out to him, "Menma! Are you ok?!?"-Mina.

Menma did not respond and kept on shaking. Mina quickly figured out what was happening to Menma and took a deep breath.

She lightly grabbed Menma and guided him back onto the chair and pointed outside at all of the flowers. "Hey Menma, you see all the beautiful flowers?"-Mina. Menma lightly said, "Yes." "Alright that's good, now you know that you're safe here right? There's nothing here that can harm you. That's correct right?"-Mina.

Menma stopped shaking and he lightly said, "Yeah, that's right."-Menma. After a few seconds Menma blinked and it seemed like he returned back to normal. Mina gave Menma a towel to wipe off his sweat and Memma gladly accepted it.

Once Menma was done rubbing off his sweat he asked Mina, "What just happened to me?"-Menma. "Judging from what I'm seeing and how I brought you back to normal I'd say you just had a PTSD attack."-Mina.

Menma was silent for a second then looked down, "Well, I never saw the gun the day I got shot so it must have been the gunshot itself right?"-Menma. Mina nodded and Menma sighed.

"Out of all the things I could have gotten PTSD for..." Mina tried to cheer him up, "Well this thing was just invented not that long ago so it's not like a lot of people have it."-Mina. Menma smiled and said, "Yeah, you're right. But judging from how useful it is it will sell quickly if they ever get the chance to start selling it."-Menma.

Mina kneeled next to Menma and put her hands in his and smiled. "Well then that's just something else we'll have to work on together, if they ever start trying to sell them we can bust them. Or we could destroy all the guns so that they don't have a chance to sell them in the first place."-Mina.

Menma gave her a heart warming smile and said, "God I love how optimistic you are. Don't worry, in a couple of days I'll be back to normal and we'll be taking out the entire gang!"-Menma.

Mina's smile became wider and she sat in Menma's lap and hugged him tightly, "That's the Menma I know!"-Mina. Menma hugged her back and said, "I think I might start using the gun so I should start working on a silencer before anything else, where'd you put the gun?"-Menma.

"It's under the bed."-Mina. Mina sat there for a few seconds and Menma asked, "Can you go get it please?"-Menma. "This is too comfy. Can we stay like this for a few more minutes?"-Mina. Menma sighed and said, "Ok."

After a few seconds Menma thought about what she said earlier. "Ya know if you stopped wasting your time and read the rinnegan scroll already you would know all of the abilities."-Mina.

Menma looked over Mina's shoulder at the gun under the bed and activated his EMS. The space around the gun started to warp and it disappeared. Menma unwrapped his left hand from around Mina's body and had the gun reappear in his hand. He placed it on the table and pulled out the rinnegan scroll from the kamui dimension.

He opened up the scroll and it was separated into 7 different sections. The Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka path. A few of the paths seemed oddly familiar to him and the first path he looked at was the human path.

'I can absorb the soul of someone within a 5 meter radius, the benefit of this is that I receive their memories and once I have their soul I can do nothing or give it to the king of hell. Ok, well I already know this one, but it's good to know this extra info.'-Menma. Menma read further down and the next one was the Preta path.

'The Preta path allows the user to create an invisible barrier around themselves that nullifies and absorbs all forms of chakra it comes in contact with. Hmm, I didn't know that I had a rinnegan ability like this but the God seal already does the same thing better so I'll just stick with the seal.'-Menma. Menma read down further and came across the words Asura path.

Menma read through it a few lines and thought ,'Wow, I can do a lot with this. I can have 6 arms, 3 faces, and a serrated folded blade around my waist??? Hmm... why would I want to have 3 faces?' Menma read further down the section until he reached the bottom and he thought, 'Ok. I doubt I'll end up using a lot of these but I'll keep them in mind, especially the one where I can turn my body into weapons. But what the hell is a missile?'-Menma.

Menma decided to ponder on the thought later and read further down the section. The next section was labeled Naraka path. Menma finished reading it and thought, 'Ok, this basically the human path but more stylish. Although with this one there is a chance that they could still live.'-Menma. Menma's eyes skimmed over to the next section and it read Animal Path.

Menma skimmed through it and thought, "Wow, this puts the toads to shame. Immortal animals 8 different immortal animals that can overwhelm opponents. And there's a dog that just multiplies into multiple dogs and gains more heads the more it gets cut off?' Menma smiled, 'This doesn't even seem fair.'-Menma.

Menma finally reached the bottom of the page and read the words Deva Path. Once Menma got done reading it he had a grin on his face. 'I can pull people and objects towards me by manipulating the attractive forces with a technique called Bansho Ten'in. And I can use a technique called Shinra Tensei which allows me to use a repulsive force that repels everything around me like people and ninjutsu. I can even repel something that's already stuck to me, but there is usually a 5 second cool down time between each use. And also...' Menma's eyes widened, 'If I charge up the attack with enough chakra, I can level an entire village'?!?-Menma.

Menma was getting excited and his legs started bouncing. Menma could hear some low moans from Mina and he realized she was sleeping. He tried to calm down and stopped moving. Once she stopped making noises Menma read the last power. 'Chibaku Tensei is an ability that requires me to make a small black sphere, and once it's created I hurl it into the sky and it will generate an extremely powerful gravitational force. Once that happens the sphere will attract literally everything in the vicinity until a meteorite of your desired size is created!!!'-Menma.

Menma thrusted up out of his chair and Mina woke up with a loud moan. Menma forgot that Mina was still attached to him and pressed their skin closer to each other in a hug while rubbing the scroll. "Oh your so glorious, how am I just now realizing how much I needed this?"-Menma.

Mina became extremely red and responded, "M-Menma!?! What are you s-saying?! T-this is e-embarrassing!"-Mina. Menma got over his joy and realized that Mina was still there. He stopped hugging her so hard and apologized to Mina, "Mina! I'm sorry I just got too excited while reading this scroll."-Menma.

Mina started to Blush more when she realized the position they were in and she asked, "Yes I forgive you, but can you let me go now?"-Mina. Menma noticed that she still had her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and he started unwrapping himself, "You're right, this position is rather provocative."-Menma.

While he was unraveling himself Mina became lost in her thoughts and was thinking, 'Menma is really weird. Literally any other guy would have got an erection from being in this position but Menma doesn't even blush, he realizes his mistake and apologizes like it's completely normal for him.' Mina gained a mixed look and thought, 'How strange, I can't think of why.'-Mina.

After a few more seconds Mina realized Menma's lips were moving and she snapped out of her thoughts. "Hey Mina, can you unwrap yourself from around me?"-Menma. "Oh right."-Mina.

Mina separated herself from him and landed on the ground. She fixed her hair and asked, "So what did you get so excited about?"-Mina. "I decided to take your advice about reading the scroll and read it while you were sleeping."-Menma.

Mina gained a mixed smile and rubbed the back of her head. 'Well it wasn't really advice but alright.' Mina stretched and said, "Well I think I'm gonna leave now, is there anything you need from me?"-Mina.

"No, for the rest of the day I'll be perfecting a way to use the gun, then tomorrow night we can take care of all the guns being created."-Menma. Mina nodded and was about to walk out of the room but Menma stopped her. "And one last thing, don't tell Minako about my PTSD. If she knew then that she wouldn't let me touch another gun in my life."-Menma.

A small chuckle came from under Mina's breath and she said, "If I'm being honest I don't want you shooting it either. But I want to believe that you'll be able to perfect the weapon."-Mina.

Memna gave her his signature thumbs up and said, "You don't have to worry about me, have faith! I promise that I'll be able to perfect the gun by tomorrow, and if I don't then that's my fault! So don't feel bad about not stopping me!"-Menma.

Mina sighed and smiled. 'No matter how much people tell him to not blame himself... I guess that's just part of his charm.' Mina glanced over her shoulder at him and said, "Alright, I have faith in you that you'll be able to perfect it!"-Mina replied before leaving the room.

Menma sat back down in his chair and looked at the gun. He picked it up and analysed the aftermath of the gunshot. He realized that when the gun fired it released superheated and pressurized gas. Menma guessed that the fast explosion of gas caused the loud sound and decided he needed to create something that would make the gas travel more gradual while also spreading out the gas and cooling it.

Menma activated his rinnegan and manifested a small metal rod to fit on the end of the gun barrel. He realized that the silencer was too small and decided to make it slightly bigger than the barrel. Once it was on started getting to work on making a threaded suppressor.

Menma was about to start thinking about the science behind what he needed but he stopped when he looked at the silencer and saw that it was already threaded and all of the components were already complete.

Menma gained a perplexed look and reread everything on the Asura path section of the scroll. "It's as if this ability is based off of things that humans have already created, but when have they been created? It couldn't have been anytime around now because they still haven't found out they have to spiral the barrel of a gun. So maybe my rinnegan has a special ability."-Menma.

Menma looked down at his God Seal and saw the faintest of glows on it and remembered what Adonai said. "The God Seals ability is the power to defy fate itself."-Adonai.

Menma sighed with disappointment and said. "I should have figured it was the God seal. Menma elaborated for a couple seconds and came up with the hypothesis that he initially would have been destined to not be able to create a proper silencer and he would be doomed to not being able to use the gun. But the God Seal manipulated with the Asura ability so that it could use man made weapons from the future or possibly different realities.

Menma smiled and thought, 'Maybe the universe doesn't hate me.'-Menma. Menma picked up the weapon and examined it. The gun seemed about half a pound heavier and Menma frowned. The gun was 5 pounds now and Menma decided that he'll have to work on the weight later once he has perfected it.

Menma picked up the weapon and aimed it at the tree outside. He noticed the huge hole in the tree from his earlier gunshot and was impressed. He firmly grasped the grip, then brought down the hammer and pulled back the slide. He placed his finger on the trigger and started putting force on it.

But after a second he put the gun back on the table on rubbed the sweat off his brow. Menma wasn't completely sure that the silencer would work and decided to come up with a back up plan.

Menma brainstormed for a couple seconds and quickly came up with an idea.

Sorry if it sounds weird that he comes up with everything in a few seconds but about 2 seconds is how long it takes for me to come up with these ideas, so I made it the same or faster for him because I want him to be smarter than me.

Menma activated his EMS and opened the drawer. He looked for a hand mirror inside of it for a minute but ultimately couldn't find one. He was about to go ask Minako for one but then he remembered he could create whatever he wanted.

He tried to create a hand mirror and the object started forming in his hand. The object stopped forming and Menma frowned. The entire object itself was diamond but the part where the glass was supposed to be was absent.

Menma remembered that glass isn't a natural material and realized he would have to make sand first. Menma did just that and made sand in the palm of his hand.

He used fire chakra at an extremely high temperature in his hand which summoned blue flames. Menma was surprised and thought, 'I didn't know ninjas could make fire chakra this hot.'-Menma.

After a few more seconds Menma thought that it was heated for long enough it started becoming liquidy and started to resemble glass so Menma stopped heating it and cooled it down.

The glass was complete and Menma shaped it so that it would fit in the mirror. Menma looked in it and could see his reflection. Menma gave himself a sad look and realized he could have just made a shadow clone the entire time.

Menma made eye contact with himself and activated the genjutsu. Once the process was complete he manipulated with his chakra network so that a burst of chakra would automatically come out if he was put under a genjutsu.

'If I remember how PTSD works then someone can't just shake you back and forth to snap you out of it. But a big way to help someone is to distract them into thinking about something else, and visual genjutsu is the perfect way to do that. So in theory I should be able to snap out of a PTSD attack without anyone else's help.'-Menma.

Menma took a deep breath and picked up the gun again and aimed it at the tree. He checked if the .50 cal bullet was still inside and got back into position.

He placed his finger back on the trigger, and fired. Menma stayed still for a few seconds to make sure that nothing unexpected would happen and once he was sure that nothing would he remained the gun and fired again. He heard a small click happen when he shot it and fired again. He smiled and kept on firing until the mag was empty.

Menma looked at the tree he shot at and saw multiple holes in it of the same size. He smiled at his success placed the gun back on the table.

He wondered what he should work on next with the gun and thought about what just happened.If there was any problem with the gun right now then it would have to be the weight and the speed.

He decided to work on the speed first and summoned a shadow clone. He told it to go to the other side of the room and it activated it's basic sharingan.

Menma aimed at it and shot the gun. The clone easily dodged it and it had a disappointed look. "So what did you think?"-Menma. The clone responded, "It wasn't that fast, it was only twice the speed of sound. So the only people it would hit are people Chunin level and below, but I think it could still hit any ninja as long as they can't see it."

"Well not exactly, a seasoned ninja like Kuranai or Asuma would be able to hear the bullet cutting through the wind like a kunai. So even though they wouldn't hear the gunshots they would still hear the disturbance in the wind."-Menma.

The clone smirked and said, "Yeah but do you really think there's anyone in this village on Asuma's level?" Menma thought about it for a few seconds and smirked. "Yeah, you're right." And they both laughed a little.

After they were done laughing Menma said, "You're right, but this is a really fun weapon to use so I'll be probably be using it for awhile. So I want it to be the best it can be."-Menma.

Menma placed the gun on the desk and examined a bullet. "I could increase the force of the explosion of powder when the gun is fired but that would increase the noise. So instead of that maybe I'll try to add lightning chakra to it.

Menma looked at the smokeless powder inside of the bullet and decided to modify it into a chakra conducting gunpowder. Once he did he conjured lighting that appeared white in his hands. He thought that the color it presented was strange but he ignored it and added it into the smokeless powder mix. Once he did the powder started making tiny sparks and he repeated the process to the rest of the bullets.

Once he was done he put the new and improved bullet into the chamber and aimed it at the clone. He fired it and the clone was unable to dodge it. The clone dispersed into smoke and Menma was impressed at his own skills.

"Our reaction time is about twice the speed of lightning, and it seems that the bullet is even faster than that somehow!"-Menma.

Menma decided that the speed problem was solved and moved on to weight. He examined the silencer and started thinking about how gas worked.

After a few seconds he came up with a few ideas. First he put smalls all over the barrel of the gun and turned the threaded pattern of the silencer into a spiral like the barrel while also making it smaller since the spiral would make the gas travel even more gradually.

The design was wacky but Menma thought it just might work. The way gas works is that it is undefined when it comes to shape and mass, and it has little trouble passing through solid objects. So by making holes gas has even more chances to escape which will make it quieter while also requiring less weight.

Menma's goal was to make the silencer the size of a muzzle brake but for now he would see if this design worked.

Itachi And Kisame

Itachi was walking back to his hotel and reflected back on the conversation he just had and sighed. 'It seems like this will be a pretty convenient mission. Bee sure seems... like an interesting character. He knew we were Akatsuki yet he was too friendly about accepting my plan to fake his kidnapping.' Everything seemed basic about the plan but one more thing seemed to perplex him. For some reason Bee asked for him to come back and fake a kidnapping on him next month.

Itachi decided not to think too hard about it and entered his hotel room. Kisame looked up and asked, "So how'd it go?"-Kisame. "tomorrow morning he's gonna go train at the Unraikyo temple. That's where we'll go to capture him."-Itachi. Kisame nodded and got prepared for bed.

I'm wondering if you guys thing these chapters are too slow paced. Cause I somehow managed to make 5500 words worth of storytelling in one room.


	18. Confessions

Suigetsu walked out of his room and knocked on Menma's door. He received no response and knocked a few more times. When he still didn't get a response he grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

Once he opened the door, he looked inside and saw Menma slumped on the floor surrounded by strange looking bullets with different symbols on them and 2 guns that were in his hands.

Suigetsu sighed and walked towards his sleeping body. He grabbed Menma by his shoulders and started lightly shaking him. After enough shakes Menma finally woke up and Suigetsu said, "Good morning Menma, we have stuff to do today."-Suigetsu.

Menma sat up and stretched. He looked at Suigetsu and gave him a smile. "I've finally perfected it."-Menma. Suigetsu gave him a confused look and Menma followed up with, "The gun, I've finally perfected it."-Menma.

Suigetsu was ultimately not surprised and sweat dropped. "Of course you did. You don't want to tell me what you did do you?"-Suigetsu. Menma thought for a second and decided, "No, I think I'll keep it a secret for now."-Menma.

Suigetsu mentally sighed in relief and said, "Well anyways we have stuff to do."-Suigetsu. Menma gave a confused expression and asked, "What stuff?"-Menma.

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow and responded, "What do you mean what stuff? You said we would go visit the families of those we killed."-Suigetsu.

Menma started rubbing his head. Each second, a few seconds he started rubbing harder until he eventually stopped. He looked up at Suigetsu with a mixed look. "What do you mean the families of those I killed?" Menma asked with a tiny smirk.

Suigetsu felt a little offended by his question and asked, "What do you mean, what do I mean? I'm talking about the families of the 11 Hagetaka guys you killed indiscriminately!"-Suigetsu.

Menma gave him a smile and asked, "Why would I visit their families? They were criminals and I took care of them."-Menma.

Suigetsu was dumbstruck and after a few seconds he grabbed Menma by his collar. "What are you saying?!?! Last week you gave a whole speech about how you were wrong to kill them and that you would make it up to them!"-Suigetsu.

Menma chuckled a little and responded, "That sounds like a weird thing to say. Why would I say something like that?"-Menma. After hearing that Suigetsu became furious and was about to say something else but heard Nozomi and Minako turned the corner in the hallway.

"What are you 2 arguing about?"-Minako. Suigetsu let go of Menma and walked past Minako. "Nothing, would love to stay and chat but I gotta go take care of something."-Suigetsu stated storming off.

Menma looked at Suigetsu as he walked off and thought, 'What was that about? That seemed out of character for him to get mad like that.'-Menma.

Minako walked up to Menma and asked, "What was all that about?"-Minako. Menma waved her off and explained, "It's nothing serious. Apparently I said we were gonna do something last week. But I lost my memory of a lot of recent events so I don't think we'll be able to do it now."-Menma.

Minako nodded and asked, "You lost your memory? Do you still remember... that story?"-Minako. Menma nodded and confirmed, "Yes I remember. I only forgot some small things like this guy called Hachi and the most recent events like what happened the day I invaded the southern hideout."-Menma.

Minako smiled and said, "Alright, well if you don't mind will you come with me to the homeless shelter? Recently a lot more people arrived there and I need you to help me feed them. After that you can take Nozomi with you to wherever you go."-Minako.

Menma thought about what he would be doing today and sighed, "Sure, I have a lot of time."-Menma. Nozomi ran towards Menma and jumped on him. "Will Kaikaku come with us?"-Nozomi.

"Kaikaku? I don't know, I can check and see."-Menmasaid as they all went outside. "So will Kaikaku come with us?"-Nozomi. Hold on let me check"-Menma.

Menma teleported to the Kamui dimension and looked around. He called out, "Kaikaku! Are you here?"-Menma. Menma got no response and looked around.

He stopped in front of a door and the room had a familiar feel to it that he couldn't point out. After a few more moments of silence Nozomi said, "That's the room I stayed with Kaikaku In."-Nozomi.

Menma walked into the room and checked to see if he was in there. There was no one in the room but Menma saw a note on one of the coffee tables.

Menma walked over to the small table and picked up the note. He opened it and started reading.

Dear Menma,

If you're reading this then you probably wanted me to hang out with Nozomi again. But I wanted to inform you that I won't be around for awhile and I don't know when I'll come back. I've recently lost my taste in torture and I'm unsure of who exactly I am. So I'm going to be spending my time in a place called Tokyo in another universe until I find out what I want in life.

Sincerely, Kaikaku

P.S. You should already know this cause our minds are connected but just in case you didn't know you can use the golden eyes to travel to different universes and realms. You can do the same thing with Kamui but it's mainly exclusive to dimensions and has only 4 universes connected. Using Kamui is too chakra draining anyway.

Menma closed the note and put it back on the table and smiled. Nozomi was wondering why he was smiling and asked, "What did it say?"-Nozomi.

But Menma didn't hear her and a single tear fell from his eye. 'Kaikaku... Mina. You two were completely right about what you told me about not just being entities of my personality disorder, and how torture is like food. Kaikaku formed into existence because of the worst moments In my life, and like a child he quickly accepted that as a part of his existence and purpose. But you've matured, after having so much of what you thought you were meant for you realized you didn't need it in the first place. It's just like what Mina said, you have thoughts and feelings just like any normal person, and you can even fit in and change with enough exposure. Menma wiped away the tear and left Hell with one more thought, 'I hope you find yourself.'-Menma.

Nozomi was constantly pulling on his cloak to get his attention and Menma finally snapped out of his thoughts. "Did you need something?"-Menma. "Yes! Where is Kaikaku?"-Nozomi.

Menma gave her a foxy smirk and said, "He's on a journey somewhere far away, we won't see him for awhile."-Menma. Nozomi was disappointed by the answer and Menma was thinking. 'Travel universes and realms? I don't see myself going to other universes anytime soon but realms? I remember that Freya goddess something about 9 realms... so does that mean... the reason Odin wants these eyes is so he can go to the other 9 realms?!?' A light bulb went off in Menma's head, 'Yes it all makes sense now! He wants my eyes so that he can conquer the 9 realms, but for some reason he can't travel to the realms without these. That must be why he hasn't come to take them from me himself!' Menma smiled, then looked up at the sky and pointed at it. And with a determined look he said "Don't worry Odin, so I'm gonna be coming to you!"-Menma.

"Are you ready to go now?"-Minako. "Yeah, I'm done."-Menma.

Toshiro's House

Toshiro entered his apartment and put his hands in his pocket. He pulled out the gun he was given and threw it on the ground in disgust.

The gun had an accidental discharge and went off. Toshiro rubbed his ears and grunted in annoyance. He thought back to what happened last night and started thinking, 'I don't think I can force myself to work with these people anymore.'-Toshiro.

He remembered that Orochimaru called for a meeting of a lot of lieutenants. He was invited because he was spying on the biggest threat to their gang.

Toshiro was guided into the meeting spot outside of the eastern hideout. Once he arrived his bandana was removed and he saw 3 other people there. One person was Karin, she was the lieutenant that watched over the western hideout which was the base for all sage experiment operations. She was an attractive red head that wore glasses and hand bite marks up and down her arms and legs.

The next lieutenant was Yurusarenai. Among the scum of the gang Hagetaka he is considered hell on earth. He was an obese horrendous looking man who spent all of his inside with his... child servants. There were absolutely no likeable traits about him but somehow Orochimaru considers him his right hand man. Not many people have been to the eastern hideout and there is a only a handful of security. not even the guards here know where this place is because they aren't allowed to go outside. Only Orochimaru knows where the place is because they were all brought there with bandanas covering their eyes. The only thing known about the hideout is that

The there was the leader Orochimaru himself. He still maintained the same eternal youthful face as if he was the devil. The only difference from the last time he saw him was that Orochimaru had bandages around his eyes. Toshiro was gonna question the bandages but decided no to when he saw a red glint behind the bandages.

Yurusarenai opened his mouth and asked, "Where is your servant Kabuto?" Orochimaru grinned and responded, "Unfortunately I had to get rid of him. But it was a necessary sacrifice to achieve the ultimate power of the sharingan."-Orochimaru.

Yurusarenai grinned at his answer and Karin remained silent but looked away. Toshiro was curious about what the sharingan was but decided to forget about it for now. "So what did you bring us here for?"-Toshiro.

Orochimaru grinned and said, "Toshiro, already wanna get to business huh? You'll make a great lieutenant. As long as you don't fail in your mission that is." Orochimaru revealed a suitcase to everyone and opened it. He pulled out a gun from the suitcase.

All 3 of them had a curious look on their faces and Orochimaru stated, "This is a gun. It's something that will revolutionize the weapons industry." Orochimaru examined the weapon and continued, "The previous idiot that I had work on the barrel couldn't figure out how to make a bullet go straight, so I had to personally examine it and create a spiral pattern for accuracy."-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru threw a gun at Toshiro and he caught it. He threw guns at the other 2 and they caught theirs. Orochimaru walked towards a garage door and pressed the button beside it. The huge door raised into the wall and the room behind it revealed 10 people strapped in chairs.

All of them had bags covering their heads with a rope tied around their necks to keep it on. Their arms and feet were kept in place with restraints. "You will all end up showing off how these work to the rest of the gang, so how about we have some target practice?"-Orochimaru.

Toshiro gulped and looked down at the gun. Yurusarenai smiled and aimed at 1 of the captured men. He shot shot the weapon and it made a deafening sound. Everyone looked at the aftermath while rubbing their ears and saw that the man who was shot now had his brains splattered across the wall.

Orochimaru chuckled and said, "Amazing isn't it? Every shot is more than twice the speed of sound! And its destructive power is dozens of times more powerful than a kunai."-Orochimaru.

All 9 of the remaining victims started whimpering and Yurusarenai started laughing. He aimed the weapon and shot again at another, then again, then again, and so on until there was only 2 remaining. Toshiro watched on in horror at the bloodbath in front of him and Karin vomited while Yurusarenai and Orochimaru both laughed.

'How could they do this? What the hell is wrong with these people? What gives them the right to do this when we could have just used targets?'-Toshiro. Karin spoke up and said, "I think I'll practice my shooting later, I'm getting tired."-Karin.

Orochimaru excused her and Yurusarenai said, "More for me then!" And shot the 9th victim. The room that was previously a sleek white room was now an unrecognizable bloody room. There was one more victim left in the room. He was crying. The thing that separated him from the rest of the victims was that he was missing both of his hands.

He was crying out for Menma to save him. 'He knows Menma?'-Toshiro. Orochimaru had a devilish grin and said, "Well this is a surprise. He knows Menma." Orochimaru walked up to Toshiro and said, "This makes everything so much better. Make sure you don't shoot him in the head."-Orochimaru.

Toshiro gulped and aimed the weapon at the poor crying man. "MENMA SAVE ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE YET!" Toshiro stopped aiming the man and looked at the ground. Orochimaru walked right behind Toshiro and looked over his shoulder. He grabbed Toshiro's hand and aimed it at the man.

"Come on Toshiro, he is friends with our biggest threat, that makes this important!"-Orochimaru. Toshiro gulped and looked away. "I can't kill him, he's done nothing wrong."-Toshiro.

Orochimaru frowned and firmly grasped Toshiro's hand. He aimed it directly at the man's heart. He grabbed Toshiro's face and faced it in the direction the gun was aiming. "You're gonna start doing this a lot once Menma is disposed of, so you should get used to it."-Orochimaru.

The man with no hands started talking to himself, "Menma, you won't be able to save me. But please find where this place is. I will grant you what I have left of my chakra, and reveal this location to you." The poor man stated before he started forming a piece of paper and had it fly off back to the village.

No one noticed what the man did and Orochimaru took full control of Toshiro's hand and placed his finger on the trigger, and shot him.

Toshiro rubbed the sweat off his brow and took a deep breath. 'I'm gonna have to tell Menma about this, he's the only person I can call a friend."-Toshiro.

Toshiro got off his couch and walked towards his door. He opened it with the goal of going out to find Menma, but once he opened the door, he was met with fellow Hagetaka members.

Itachi And Kisame

Kisame picked up Killer Bee's unconscious body and started walking. Itachi followed close behind and Kisame stated, "Extracting all of his chakra is gonna take a long time, especially now since Deidara, Sasori, Kakazu, and Hidan are dead."-Kisame.

"At least we got a new member."-Itachi. Kisame chuckled, "I guess that's a positive, I like Tobi. He shines a nice light on our gloomy organization... does he have a teammate?"-Kisame.

Itachi thought for a second and said, "I think he might be going solo just to gain info on the 9 tails power, considering he was able to take down the immortal duo and both of the "artist" in our group."-Itachi. "Hm. Whatever, I'm just glad the fighting will be over soon."-Kisame.

Itachi nodded in agreement but he wasn't looking forward to what he might have to do to Kisame. Kisame noticed the tiny difference in Itachi's expression but decided to ignore it.

'During the past couple of weeks, something's just seems off about you Itachi. Especially when you happened to come back from meeting a "contact" and both Kakazu and Hidan ended up dead. Not only that, but the tiny bit of chakra that was still lingering in Kakazu's body was erratic as if it was in a genjutsu... but after we extract the 8 tails I'll know for sure."-Kisame.

Homeless Shelter

Menma looked around with visual concern until Minako tapped him on the shoulder. "You look worried, is something wrong?"-Minako. Menma gave up on his search and turned towards her.

"Do you know where our friend Akiro is? I can't find him anywhere, it's been a long time since I saw him and I wanted to talk to him about my progress."-Menma.

Minako thought for a second and responded, "No, I don't know where he is. Which is pretty strange, I don't think I've ever seen him go one block away from this place."-Minako.

Menma sighed and said, "Well I think I'll come back for him tomorrow."-Menma." Menma felt a tug on his arm and looked down to see Nozomi.

"Did you need something Nozomi?"-Menma. Nozomi was about to say something put decided not to. "Nevermind, it probably isn't important." Nozomi said holding on to the folded paper in her pocket.

"Alright."-Menma. Minako turned towards the door and stated, "Well I have to leave now. But I'll tell everyone to watch out for Akiro."-Minako.

Menma nodded and picked up Nozomi. Nozomi yelped in surprise and landed on his shoulders. "Alright, bye Minako. Menma started walking outside and told Nozomi, "We're gonna drop by one of my friends apartments first."-Menma.

Suigetsu

Suigetsu looked down at the newspaper and compared it to the records he found. Found out where the families live. He took a deep breath, 'Menma should have been here with me.'-Suigetsu thought as he left for his first destination.

Menma and Nozomi

Menma arrived at Toshiro's apartment building and walked through the door. While he was walking up the stairs Nozomi asked, "So who is your friend anyway?"-Nozomi.

"Hmmm, well he's uhhh... kinda like a business partner. I met him the second day I came to this village and I'd say we've been decent friends. He knows a lot about the village."-Menma.

Menma arrived on Toshiro's floor and asked Nozomi, "Hey Nozomi, how old are now?"-Menma. "I'll be 13 soon."-Nozomi. "So your 12 huh? Wow, and you're still so immature."-Menma.

"Shut up! How am I immature?!"-Nozomi asked with a blush of embarrassment. "Well i guess the biggest reason is that you call me dad."-Menma.

"I'm just teasing you."-Nozomi. Menma was about to respond but stopped when he heard a crash come from Toshiro's room. He rushed towards his room and kicked open the door.

He saw 2 Hagetaka members standing over a beaten Toshiro with weapons in hand. Toshiro made eye contact with Menma and 2 thoughts instantly came to mind. The first was that he was relieved since he would be saved. And the second was that he was frightened because he wouldn't be able to avoid telling him the truth about why these 2 are in his house.

The 2 men noticed that Menma was in the room and Menma told Nozomi to get behind him. She did as she was told and remained silent. Menma slowly started approaching them and they both looked at each other. They both nodded and looked at Menma.

Menma was prepared for anything they would do because he already knew it would be futile. After he was 2 meters away from them he raised his hand to begin his attack but both of the men turned around and yelled, "NIGERUNDAYO, SMOKEY!" As they both ran away.

Menma was surprised that they ran away but decided to ignore it. He walked over to Toshiro and helped him off of the ground. "I feel like I'm gonna die Menma."-Toshiro.

"Oh shut up." Menma replied before placing his left hand on his chest. He raised his hand off of him and said, "Do you feel better now?"-Menma.

Toshiro started feeling himself all over to make sure and realized all of wounds were gone. "How'd you heal me?"-Toshiro.

Menma showed him the sun mark on his hand and said, "This is one of my abilities. It's the ability to heal any wounds, I can even replace internal organs with this. I'm not sure if I could replace things like arms and legs though."-Menma.

Toshiro absorbed the information and smiled. "Well, thank you for saving me."-Toshiro. Menma gave him a thumbs up and said, "Well of course I saved you! You're my friend."-Menma.

Toshiro looked up at him confused and asked, "We're friends?"-Toshiro. Now it was Menma's turn to be confused and he responded, "Yeah of course we're friends. What, did you think you were just someone I used to get info?"-Menma.

Toshiro looked down and said, "Yes." Menma frowned and said, "What happened to the overly enthusiastic you?"-Menma. Toshiro generated a weak chuckle and said, "It was all a front."-Toshiro.

"Well I won't hold it against you. I'm glad I met someone here besides Minako that could at least pretend to show some positive emotions... but I'm wondering, why did they attack you?"-Menma.

Toshiro was afraid that Menma would eventually ask that question. If there was one thing that Toshiro couldn't do it was telling a lie. Toshiro was realizing he wouldn't be able to avoid the question and was about to open his mouth but Menma answered for him, "Did they attack you cause you were failing to do your job good enough?"

Toshiro felt lucky since that was the perfect response he could use. "Yes!" Toshiro looked down, "And I don't think I can stay here anymore. They've given me one last chance to do my job right but I'm not sure if I'm willing to go through with it."-Toshiro.

'I'm still not sure if I'm gonna go through with this mission or not. All they want me to do is find out where he lives and I'll be Scot free... but is it really worth it... yeah, of course it is! If I do this then they'll never be bothered and I won't have to worry about anything again!'-Toshiro.

Menma started feeling uncomfortable because of the dead silence and held out a hand for Toshiro. Toshiro was snapped out of his thoughts and accepted it. "Well while you think about what you're gonna do why don't you come talk to me for awhile?"-Menma.

"Talk?"-Toshiro. "Yeah, like friends do. We could go to my favorite bar or something."-Menma. "I don't drink." Toshiro stated as he accepted Menma's hand. Menma smirked and pulled him up. "I don't drink either."-Menma.

Toshiro returned the smile and they started walking out, "Alright then, I'll go with you."-Toshiro.

Suigetsu

The woman closed the door on him and Suigetsu walked away. 'Alright, some of these encounters turn out positive. But damn Menma, I'm not really meant for this, your the one that has a special way with words.'-Suigetsu.

Menma, Toshiro, and Nozomi

The trio turned the corner and arrived on the same street as the bar. Once they were a couple buildings away from it Menma just realized something. 'I don't think I'd be allowed to bring a 12 year old into a bar.'-Menma.

Menma made a shadow clone and the clone grabbed Nozomi. "Hey, what are you doing?"-Nozomi. "Sorry but you have to be an adult to walk into a bar."-Menma.

"Well you're still 17!"-Nozomi. "Yeah, you're right, but I look like an adult so ya know." Menma stated as he turned around. Nozomi was about to say something but Menma cuts her off, "Don't worry Nozomi we won't be drinking."

Toshiro and Menma walked into the bar and sat on the stolls closest to all the drinks. The bartender walked over to them and made eye contact with Menma. "Oh, it's you again."

Menma smiled and replied, "Well that's not a very nice way to greet a friend."-Menma. The bartender sighed and said, "Hi Menma, just don't kill anyone inside my bar this time." Menma gave a thumbs up and responded, "You got it!"-Menma.

Menma turned back towards Toshiro while the bartender got water and asked, "So what is your job anyway?"-Menma. Toshiro shifted uncomfortably and responded, "I'd rather not tell you yet."

Menma stayed quiet for a few seconds but then he asked another question, "From what I know about you I don't think just a beating would make you start acting like this. I think something else must have happened to you either today or yesterday."-Menma.

Toshiro started remembering what happened last night and the screams of the man with no hands was enough to make him start feeling uncomfortable again. "Yeah, you're spot on with that analysis. But because of what happened I don't wanna tell you now."-Toshiro.

Menma frowned and said, "Ok well we aren't making any progress, how about you ask something about me?"-Menma. Toshiro thought for a second and said, "Yeah we can do that." The bartender walked over and gave them their drinks.

Toshiro took a sip and said, "But I will say this. Depending on what you say your words could affect my entire future. What happened last night has to do with my job. And right now I'm wondering if I really want to keep that job right now. So I think if I know enough about you that will help me decide."-Toshiro.

Meanwhile Across The Room

Saburo, Sachi, and Sen sat around together at a table. They all remained quiet until one of them said, "It seems Hakura and Doppo have completely lost their memory of where Ms.Minako lives. It's as if that night was completely erased from their memory, almost like it never happened."-Saburo.

Sachi shrugged his shoulders and said, "They also seemed too stupid to document where she lives. But it doesn't matter, Menma will lead us right to where she lives."-Sachi.

"So what should we do once we find the place? Should we send them the package first then go after them the next day?"-Sen.

"No, once we find out where he lives we will wait until the next time he leaves and we will capture Minako. She is associating with someone who is a grave threat to our organization and we will give her to a nearby noble army that has been searching for her. Then we will do what we see fit from there depending on what Orochimaru orders us to do."-Saburo.

Back To Menma And Toshiro

"So, first I wanna know what you think about Orochimaru."-Toshiro. "Well, there is not a single person I despise more than him. Someone could piss on me and slit my throat and they might as well be my best friend when compared to him."-Menma.

Toshiro was surprised by Menma's response. He originally thought that Menma came here on an S Rank mission to take down Orochimaru since he was a rogue ninja. But Menma hasn't mentioned that at all. It sounded like this was very personal. "Why do you think that? I mean he is definitely a first rate scum, but thought you came here because of a mission."-Toshiro.

Menma chuckled a little, "No, I don't think I was actually allowed to leave my village... hmmm. Whatever I think I lost count of how many times I've left the village without permission, I think they got used to it by now."-Menma.

Toshiro was confused but laughed a little. Menma stopped chuckling and gained a serious expression. "But the reason I'm here is most definitely personal. But there is a mission that goes along with this. But I'll save that for later... Orochimaru, is someone who managed to destroy everything in my life over the course of 6 days. Because of him eventually ended up ending my own life, which sadly caused me to lose some abilities my best friend granted me before he died, like near indestructible skin and healing that exceeds anything on earth."-Menma.

Toshiro quickly gagged on the water he was drinking and replied, "What do you mean end your life?!?" Toshiro realized that him raising his voice attracted attention and he calmed down and restated his statement, "What do you mean end your life?"-Toshiro.

"Well that's a much longer story, so I'll just avoid it for now. Cause telling you even a small detail would make you ask 5 more questions."-Menma. Toshiro accepted his answer and Menma thought, 'I'm starting to realize that telling different people the same story over and over gets annoying after awhile.'

"So what do you wanna ask me exactly?"-Menma. Toshiro thought and said, "Tell me how he ruined your life."-Toshiro.

Menma took a deep breath and started, "Well it all started during the chunin exams. We completed the written portion and the second stage objective was to receive 2 scrolls in the forest of death. I was knocked out for the majority of the time but for the few days I was awake some interesting things happened. Something that was special about that forrest was that normal animals are the size of dinosaurs. Bears will tower bundles of normal trees. Speaking of dinosaurs I remember I saved this redhead girl with glasses from getting eaten by one, I think her name was Karin."-Menma.

Toshiro thought for a second, 'Karin? The same Karin as the leader of the western hideout?'-Toshiro. "Anyways eventually me, my brother, and 2 of my teammates ended up fighting Orochimaru. Before that I thought I thought I could hold my own against anyone, I was lazy. And he humbled me by easily defeating me in every way. I was 15 when that happened."-Menma.

Toshiro asked, "You have a brother?" Menma looked away for a second and simply said, "I had a brother." And continued, "But anyways what happened next was the 3rd exams after that."-Menma.

Suigetsu

Suigetsu arrived at the last house he needed to and wasn't happy with his results so far. He knocked on the door and thought about all of the previous responses he received. Most of them were still mourning and they had financial issues. Previously they were friendly with the gang since their family had a member, but after they died they became another victim of the "debt" collectors. They all spammed their doors on him but he promised them that Kitsune will liberate their village from Orochimaru.

Suigetsu's thoughts were cut off when he heard the door open in front of him. He made eye contact with a woman and they asked him, "What do you want?" Suigetsu took a deep breath and asked, "Was there a man that lived here named Isshin?"-Suigetsu.

"Yes, he was my son. Who's asking?" Suigetsu looked down. "So he was your son, Ms.Tsurai?"-Suigetsu. Tsurai gained a confused look and opened her door all the way. Before she opened the door all Suigetsu could see was her hazel eyes. But now that the door has been opened all the way Suigetsu can see that she was a beautiful woman with long reddish pink hair turned into a ponytail.

"Just who are you and how do you know my name?"-Tsurai. Suigetsu prepared himself and responded, "I know your name by tracking you down by looking through family records based off of your son that died... I came here because me and my friend killed your son."-Suigetsu.

Tsurai remained silent for a few seconds until she grabbed him by his shirt and stated, "If this is some kind of prank then I'm telling you it's not funny."-Tsurai.

Suigetsu maintained his serious and slightly solemn expression and stated, "Your son was a Hagetaka member who worked at where all the warehouses are as a guard. Your husband was killed by Hagetaka members after he failed to do his job right and your son had to be put to work early at 17 or else you wouldn't be able to survive financially. You both hated Hagetaka for what they did to your husband but you knew there was nothing you could do to stop them, and since they killed your husband you thought they would come after his family. So you thought that being a guard for shipments was the best way to prevent your child from experiencing danger from rebels or the gang themselves. But my friend..."- Suigetsu was cut off when by Tsurai when she punched him to the ground and had tears in her eyes.

"So it really was you. So why are you here? What are you gonna do? Rub it in my face?!?"-Tsurai. Suigetsu stood up and said, "No, I came here to apologize."-Suigetsu.

Tsurai scoffed and replied, "Apologize? What are you gonna apologize for? He's already dead! Also, you just said you had a friend and that he was the one that killed him, where is he?!?"-Tsurai.

Suigetsu thought about what he would say and answered, "He can't come. He's the one that came up with the idea of visiting you after he realized what he did wrong. But he recently had a coma and he's forgotten about everyone that died, so when I asked him to come he wouldn't."-Suigetsu. Tsurai punched him again.

Menma And Toshiro

"So then that's when I was brought back to life by the sage of the 6 paths and I started my journey. My 2 objectives are to take down Orochimaru and Odin, and once that happens I have to set free everyone that died into the real heaven, so that their souls don't fade away.

I'm close to Orochimaru, and once I take care of him the journey will be half way done."-Menma.

They both remained silent for a few seconds while the 3 assassin brothers left the bar. Toshiro finally responded and gave Menma a smile. "Wow, that's something far above my understanding. But I don't think I would believe it if anyone else told me this."-Toshiro.

Toshiro held out his hand for a hand shake and Menma accepted it. "Alright, I'll tell you what happened to me, friend."-Toshiro.

Menma gave him a foxy smile in return and they both left the bar. The clone brought Nozomi back to them and Menma asked, "So you aren't still mad are you?" Nozomi was about to respond but she was cut off when Mina ran up to them.

"Hey Mina! Did you need something?"-Menma. Mina caught her breath from all of the running and said, "What do you mean did you need something? You remember that thing we were supposed to do today? The sun is setting."-Mina.

Menma thought for a few seconds and he remembered what she was referring. "Oh right! Let's go now!"-Menma stated as he ran away with Mina.

"What about us?"-Nozomi. "My clone can guide you home!"-Menma. Both Menma and Mina ran non stop until they reached the warehouses. Neither of them realized Saburo, Sachi, and Sen hiding in the shadows watching them.

They both jumped onto a building for an overview of the place. But after a few seconds Menma started breathing heavily from exhaustion. "How are you already out of energy?"-Mina. Menma rubbed his head and said, "I'm almost fully healed, but I'm still not at full performance."-Menma stated while manifesting his gun in his hands.

Mina sighed and said, "Well I guess you're lucky you have a gun then. Besides, we need to know if there are guns there before we actually do something."-Mina. "Well based of chakra signatures warehouse-7 has the most people in it, so maybe we start there."-Menma.

Suigetsu

Suigetsu played still on the ground with not the slightest bit of resistance as Tsurai punched him over and over. Tsurai stopped punching him and said, "Just tell me where your friend is! You 2 killed my son because of your own ignorance!"-Tsurai.

Suigetsu remained silent and Tsurai was about to punch him again but Minako pushed her off of Suigetsu. She helped Suigetsu stand up and asked, "What is going on?!?"-Minako.

Tsurai stood up and said, "Those 2 monsters killed my son! And now... and now..." Tsurai broke down in tears. Minako said, "What? This must be some kind of misunderstanding."-Minako.

Suigetsu shook his head and replied, "No, she's completely right. Her son was an innocent Hagetaka member who worked as a guard, and both me and Menma killed him. Now please leave, this is my responsibility."-Suigetsu stated as he tried to walk past her.

Minako put a hand on Suigetsu to prevent him from walking. She looked at his beaten face and thought, 'Menma really changed you hasn't he, Suigetsu?' She opened her mouth and said, "That's not fair Suigetsu, there's no way you could have known that. You may think it's your fault for not knowing sooner but there was no way you could have. Now come on, let me take care of your face back at home."-Minako.

Minako turned around tried to guide him but he said, "Let me just say one more thing."-Suigetsu. They made eye contact for a few seconds until Minako sighed and nodded.

Suigetsu walked up to Tsurai until he was 5 meters away from her and stated, "You have every right to hate me for my ignorance. Back then I was too stupid to ever think about how even the enemy might have families. And I can't bring your son back. But I promise me and my friends will take down the gang that killed your husband and forced your son to work."-Suigetsu.

Tsurai remained silent and Minako told Suigetsu, "C'mon." And they both left, leaving Tsurai in the rain.

Warehouse-7

Menma held out his hand from the window and felt raindrop on his hand. He recoiled his hand and summoned a second gun in it. "Alright, we've confirmed that all of the guns are being kept in this warehouses, give the signal and we'll exterminate them all at once."-Mina.

Menma analysed the room and saw that there were a total of 30 guards guarding the 4 different containers. He was ready and took the bandages off of his head. 'I think I'm fully healed now.' Menma was about to give the signal but he stopped and thought about what Suigetsu said earlier.

'He was telling me something about killing those with families...' Menma put his guns away and tapped Mina on the shoulder. She looked back at him and he said, "I think we should do this without weapons, maybe we shouldn't kill anyone."-Menma.

Mina raised a brow at him and he replied, "I'm not sure why. But Suigetsu told me something I said to him this morning, and this sounds weird but I think I'll respect what he told me about not killing every gang member I see."-Menma.

Mina was still confused by what he said but complied nonetheless.Menma gave the signal and they both jumped down. Menma still felt slightly exhausted so he activated his EMS and used Tsukuyomi on everyone that made eye contact with him.

They both split up and took care of their individual groups. Menma had about 10 people to take care of on his side while Mina had 20. The first person in Menma's group used a Water Style:Water Dragon jutsu using water coming from the nearby river and Menma used Kamui to get through it. 'So they can use jutsu.'

Menma used an Earth Style:Mud Wall jutsu and made half of the group lose their balance. He blitzed them all and knocked them out cold with different attacks. Menma looked towards the other half of the group and some of them made eye contact with him.

3 of them collapsed from the stress of Tsukuyomi and there were only 2 of them left. He was about to run towards them but they both ran away.

Menma caught his breath and was about to help Mina with her group but when he turned around he already saw everyone was knocked out. "How did you knock them out so fast?!"-Menma.

Mina looked at him and said, "Well a big thing that's different about us is that you always like fighting with fashion and a variety of techniques. I just knock them out."-Mina.

Menma accepted that answer and walked towards one of the containers. He looked into it using Kamui and saw guns. "Yeah this is definitely the place holding the guns."-Menma.

Menma backed away from the containers and he got them all in his line of view. His eyes started to bleed and he used Amaterasu on them.

After using that he collapsed to the ground and Mina caught him. "Are you all right?"-Mina. Menma waved her off and said, "Using that technique usually makes me a little light headed for some reason. But I guess I get light headed a lot quicker for the moment. But tomorrow I should be back in peak condition."-Menma.

Mina accepted the answer and they went home. While at the same time Saburo, Sachi, and Sen left Minako's home.


	19. Western Hideout

Menma woke up and sat up. He stretched out his arm and he sat at the edge of his bed. He looked outside the window and looked at the bright orange sky that the rays of the sun created.

He suddenly felt cold and he covered himself with the blankets. 'What month is this?'-Menma. Menma looked at the calendar in his room and saw that it was October.

Menma sighed and was about to get ready for the day, but then he remembered something that happened a couple days before. "If you wanna talk to me again then sit in that same position at the exact same time another day."-Adonai.

Menma contemplated on if he wanted to talk to him again or not and decided that he would. He took a deep breath and sat in the same spot he did 2 days before. He looked outside the window up in the clouds and to him it almost looked like the sky opened as golden lights emitted from them.

Eventually the light became too bright and Menma had to cover his eyes. But after a few seconds the bright light faded and Menma could open his eyes again. Once he did he saw Adonai standing in the way of the window as the rising sun behind him shone on him like an angel.

"Hello again child, it's going to be snowing a lot pretty soon."-Adonai. "I guess, but besides that I have a few questions... first, Is there a way to control the seal you've given me?"-Menma.

Adonai shook his head and stated, "No, you can't rush such an unbeatable power. But in due time once you've reached your peak that seal will allow you to reach an even higher limit than what the sage of the 6 paths Hagaromo gave you. You won't just be able to destroy a star, you'll be able to... actually, we can save that talk for once you've killed Odin."-Adonai.

Menma raised a brow and asked, "When I kill him? Does that mean you already know what will happen in the future?"-Menma. Adonai smirked and said, "I won't spoil the ending of your journey."-Adonai.

Menma was left with mixed feelings from the answer but decided to move on to the next question. "Is there anything that you can tell me about Orochimaru to help me when I fight him?"-Menma.

Adonai thought about how much he should say and spoke, "Orochimaru isn't the same person he used to be. One of his goals use to be to learn every jutsu and gain immortality. But for such an objective that sounded impossible he has always been calm and collected... but now, he's changed." "How's that?"-Menma.

"After listening to Odin when he approached him he was offered infinite power along with immortality in the form of godhood. And as you know the only thing he would need to do to achieve that is steal your eyes. And after having a different person's eyes as his new objective he lost interest in the sharingan. And because of that he only lured Sasuke to his hideout just so that he would grab your attention. And well... you know everything that happens after that. But after your experience with him something just snapped inside of him. It's not like he's started drawing the same words over and over on walls or anything, but he has become even more sadistic than how he use to be... do you know who Kabuto is?"-Adonai.

Menma furrowed his brow and responded, "Yes, he is Orochimaru's servant, and probably the only one he actually cares about. Why?"-Menma. Adonai kept the same straight face and stated, "Orochimaru tried to kill him."-Adonai.

Menma remained silent until he exclaimed, "What?!! Why?!"-Menma. Adonai shook his fingers and said, "Deep down I'm sure you already know. You heard a small piece of it from some Hagetaka members the first time you went to that bar."-Adonai. Menma thought about the first time he sent to the bar and the only thing he remembered was something about a special power. Menma decided to elaborate on it later and said, "Continue."

Adonai cleared his throat and continued, "Kabuto isn't really dead, he managed to escape. But Orochimaru is convinced he died. I just want to tell you that when you face him, he will be both stronger because of his new power, and weaker because of his withering mental state due to Odin."-Adonai.

Menma was about to speak but Adonai walked towards him. While he was walking Menma found it strange that he made no sounds. One thing that Menma was most grateful for was his amplified senses given to him by Kurama. He had eyesight like a falcon, he could smell like a bear, and he could hear like a bat within a certain distance just to name a few. So Menma was perplexed by how he makes no sounds or vibrations when he walks.

Adonai continued to walk towards Menma until he was 3 feet away from him. "I will give you one last piece of advice. Orochimaru is someone who is considered unkillable because he always manages to slip away. If you cut off his head, his body will molt and he'll just come back, but you have the ability to go directly for the soul." Menma nodded.

Adonai continued, but even that's not enough, because Orochimaru can separate his soul into different pieces."-Adonai.

"What do you mean separate his soul into different pieces?"-Menma. "Well that's why the rinnegan wouldn't work, because if you absorbed his soul he would just emerge from a curse mark that he placed on someone, which is why you must find a way to stop him from doing something like that."-Adonai.

"Like what?"-Menma. "I'll give you a hint, before you plan on going after Orochimaru you should read all of those seal books from your father."-Adonai.

Menma nodded and felt like he's heard enough. He gained a serious expression and asked, "Before you leave I want to ask you what you meant when you told me that thing."-Menma.

Adonai returned the expression and didn't need to ask what he was talking about since he knew exactly what he meant. "I meant what I said. All I wish for you to do is listen to whatever she tells you to do."-Adonai.

"Just what are you trying to say?"-Menma. Before Adonai could respond a timer went off on his watch and he said, "Well, it's time for me to leave. I can't tell you what will happen, but all I want you to do is listen to what she says."-Adonai stated as he turned around.

He was about to leave but he turned back around and said, "This path you walk will lead to many more of your friends dying. But it will all be worth it in the end, just never give up. Also, don't try to stay home today, you have to go to the western hideout. Cause if you don't, you will be killed."-Adonai stated seriously before fading away.

"Hey wait, you still didn't answer me!"-Menma exclaimed. But it was too late and he was already gone. Menma sat back down on his bed and cooled off.

While sitting there he gained a cold sweat and thought, 'What the hell am I supposed to do?!?! With everything he's saying it sounds like she's gonna die! But I can't protect her because he said I would die!' Menma started sweating profusely and his breaths became troubled. His hands were shaking and he thought, 'Is this really gonna happen again!?!? It's been 2 years since the last time this has happened! What can I do? What can I do...'-Menma

Menma stopped shaking when he felt Minako's presence outside of his door. He took a deep breath and wiped his sweat off. 'Her aura has always felt so calming... I guess all I can try to do is protect her with shadow clones.'-Menma.

"Why were you yelling? Was that old guy here again or something?"-Minako.

Menma looked right into her scarlet eyes and walked towards her. He ignored her question and embraced her in a tight hug. Minako blushed and returned the hug. While looking at her Menma thought, 'Temari, if there ever was a woman other than you I would be with. It would be her.'-Menma.

Menma thought about what Adonai said and he tightened his hug with some tears coming out of his eyes. "Minako, could you do a couple things for me?"-Menma.

"Yes."-Minako. "I want you to stay home today, and please never change."-Menma. "Ok, but where are you gonna go?"-Minako.

Menma let go of her rested a hand on her shoulder. "I'm gonna go to the western hideout by myself. And everyone else is gonna stay home today."-Menma.

Minako was about to oppose what he said but was interrupted when Menma gave her a kiss. He let go of her and left out of his bedroom door. "When I was at the southern hideout I purposely held myself back because I wanted to do something like test out new abilities all the time, or just be stylish. But this is more than that, now no matter how strong or weak they are I'm gonna give it my all." Menma gave her his signature thumbs up with a foxy grin. He tried to hide his feelings but he still had a tear in his eye.

Minako was about to say something but Menma already teleported away, only leaving a couple wood clones clones behind with equal power to protect the place.

Hachi Statue

Menma rushed towards the statue through the fog and thought, 'Where did all this fog come from? It doesn't matter, but... Adonai... I don't know what you are, you may be a God yourself. But what you told me was to just listen to what she had to say and to go to the western hideout or else I would die. If I rush then there might be a chance that nothing will happen!'

Menma gained a determined look and had a fire in his eyes. Without him realizing, the God Seal formed the kanji Gods Determination. This was proof that absolutely nothing would be able to stand in the way of his goal.

Menma walked towards the statue that was made of Jade and other materials. The statue showed a dark skinned man who was about 7ft of pure muscle. He activated his God Seal and absorbed enough sage chakra to put him in his 6 paths sage mode.

He looked around and found a small chakra source and found it under the Hachi statue. He lifted up the statue and saw a tube under there. It looked like a tube you would use to send scrolls to different places in a building. But it was big enough to fit a human. Menma sighed and jumped inside of it without hesitation.

As soon as he jumped in the wind inside of the tube instantly started making him fly through the tube like a torpedo.

2 Minutes Later

The tube finally stopped blowing air and Menma got out of it. He felt dizzy so he shook his head a few times. After the dizziness faded he looked at his surroundings and found out that he was on a small island. He turned around and saw the building he needed to enter.

He tried to activated his EMS along with his sage mode at the same time. Which caused a cross mutation between the 2 that resulted in a golden sharingan. He had to stop running for a second to regain his composure because of blissful the 2 together felt.

Both the sharingan and sage mode compliment each other very well. "So this is what ultra instinct feels like? Wait that's the wrong anime, UGH I'm getting side tracked!"-Menma.

He ran straight into the front door. He noticed there was no security at the front and was surprised. He started sensing the entire hideout for chakra signatures and was surprised when he noticed how saturated this place was with Nature chakra.

Minako's House

Saburo, Sachi, and Sen stalked the house from a distance. "Right now the only people there who can defend the house is Suigetsu, Mina, and some shadow clones that Menma left behind."-Saburo.

"None of these will be a problem, let's get to work."-Sachi. "Hmmmm, but it seems that Menma is more dedicated than we thought. It's not like this will change the end result since we will kill him anyway, when he left this place I could tell that he somehow knew we were gonna come here. But he went to the Western Hideout anyway."-Sen.

Saburo looked at his brother and asked, "What do you mean he knew we would come here?"-Saburo. Sachi also looked at him and said, "Yes, how would he? Not even Karin was able to track our chakra signatures when we were right next to her."-Sachi.

"Hmmmm, I'm not sure. He definitely didn't sense our chakras, cause if he did he would have tried to kill us. I can tell that much because of the multiple expressions on his face. He felt desperation, determination, and sense of inevitability as if he was fighting against fate itself."-Sen.

The other 2 brothers thought about what he said and Saburo finally said, "He might have a 7th person with him. That's the only way that he could know about us."-Saburo. Sachi spoke up and stated, "Well that's not even possible, because when they were on their way to this village there was clearly only 3 of them. So you could have been wrong Sen."-Sachi.

Sen felt a blow to his pride from that. A gift that Sen had was being able to tell what was thinking from their facial expressions. But he decided to not say anything about now and they proceeded with their mission.

Western Hideout

Menma walked down another corridor aligned with cells and sighed. Menma was about to walk down another hall but then he heard footsteps come from a room and he hid inside the wall.

He peeked out of the wall and saw a red headed woman with glasses walk out of her office. The woman walked down one of the many corridors and disappeared.

Menma walked over to where her office was and walked through the door. He looked around for something that could be useful and his eyes eventually came upon the archive room.

He created 20 shadow clones and had them search the room. "You guys have to find something, like info about what they've been doing here and maybe some info on the next hideout."-Menma.

The clones nodded and Menma ran away towards where he thinks the woman ran.

Archive Room

All 20 of the clones searched feverishly with the goal of finding something useful. Eventually they searched all of the documents and realized there was no information on the eastern hideout.

"Damn, do you think Orochimaru has that place completely isolated?"-Clone1. "It's the only way, but are you sure that you guys had your sharingan active while you were reading?"-Clone2.

All of them nodded and one of them raised their hands. They all looked towards him and the clone stated, "I didn't find anything about the eastern hideout either, but I did find some documents about what Jugo's nature chakra does to people."-Clone3.

Everyone started paying attention to him and he cleared his throat. "Do you guys remember the sound 4?" Everyone nodded and he continued, "Well it turns out that that's where the curse mark comes from! They take the nature energy he absorbs and Orochimaru somehow transfers it to people through biting them. But it also seems like when the prisoners are exposed the raw nature energy it usually results in death within 24 hours due to things like heart attacks, blood clotting, and nature chakra overload. We gotta go back to Menma quick so that he knows what he can do what to do when he sees Jugo!"-Clone3. "Ok, all of you guys can leave but I'm gonna stay to see if we missed anything."-Clone4. They all nodded and puffed away.

Minako's House

Suigetsu looked outside of the window and looked for any movement. "Why has it been so quiet lately?"-Suigetsu. Mina backed away from a window and shrugged. She replied, "I'm not sure. But maybe it has to do with this overwhelming fog, I can't see anything anymore."-Mina.

Suigetsu walked up to one of Menma's clones and asked, "Hey, why don't you tell us why Menma left all of a sudden and told us to stay here?"-Suigetsu.

The clone shook his head and stated, "We can't tell you. This is the best way to keep you safe for now."-Menma1. Suigetsu shrugged and walked away.

They continued to search for a few more minutes until they heard a loud crash. They all ran into the kitchen towards the source of the sound.

Once they reached there they saw that the front door was completely gone. Suigetsu started sweating and he said, "What the hell? How'd they find out where we live!?!"-Suigetsu.

Mina thought for a second and replied, "Well yesterday afternoon everyone of us were out of the house doing something yesterday. So they must have sent some special henchman over us to find us."-Mina.

"Special enough to not be sensed by any of us?"-Suigetsu. The God seals on both of the Menma clones appeared and they absorbed nature chakra to enter sage mode. Once they did one of them said, "With Sage Mode our sensory abilities are so good that we can sense things that are on a different plane of reality. So if anything comes in here we'll sense them." The clone stated in a reassuring voice.

They all started to feel a little safer. After a few more seconds Minako came out of the safe room and asked them, "What was that sound just now?"-Minako.

"STAY IN YOUR ROOM! IT'S NOT SAFE OUT HERE!!" Minako stopped walking out of the door and they were all silent for a minute. The clone cleared it's breath and restarted, "I mean, the enemy could still be out here. So you should stay in the safe room so they can't reach you."-Menma. Minako nodded and walked back into her room.

Saburo Sachi and Sen looked at them from the corner of the room. "They definitely don't have a 7th person with them."-Saburo.

But those clones seem confident because of their sage mode."-Sachi. "They think that because they can track things in other planes of reality that it will catch us."-Sen. "But they fail to realize that our ability is something much different than that."-Saburo.

Western Hideout

Menma raced down the halls and finally caught up to Karin. He peaked at her from around the corner and tried to see what she was doing. At the moment she looked like she was typing into a keypad.

Karin stopped typing as her finger hovered over the enter button. She looked over her shoulders and looked directly at Menma. Menma's eyes opened and he bolted towards her. 'How the hell could she spot me? I thought that because of how much nature chakra is here she wouldn't be able to tell the difference between my nature chakra and all the other ones. Is her sensory abilities so good she can differentiate between them? No... it must be because I'm in perfect sage mode, and because my nature energy is more refined than everyone else's my chakra easily stands out from all of the others who have leaking chakra. Damn how could I make that mistake?!'-Menma.

Menma was about to catch up to Karin but before he could she pressed the green button and ran through the door. Menma noticed that all of the cells opened. 'Before those cells open all the way I should be able to reach the door.' Menma shouted, "I'm not gonna let you run a"- Menma's words were cut off when he had to suddenly dodge a kick to his brain.

He darted to the floor and slid into a wall. He tried to stand up but the mysterious figure was on him again. The dark figure tried stomping down on him but Menma catapulted himself away with a wood pillar pushing him off of the wall.

Menma looked towards where the thing stomped and saw a huge 12ft crater, but he wasn't there anymore. 'What the hell is this thing?' Menma thought as his mind suddenly flooded with memories from the clones. 'Is this a curse mark user?!'-Menma.

Menma sensed someone behind him and had to use Kamui to dodge him. The figure started trying to attack him vigorously which didn't let him get in an attack. 'I'm starting to get pissed off by this.' Menma's eyes started bleeding and he yelled, "ENOUGH!" As his black Amaterasu flames spread all around him.

The monster finally backed up and Menma got a good look at it through the flames. Menma now realized that the reason he couldn't make out it's figure earlier was because it was a pure vanta black figure. But you could tell that it was a hulking humanoid figure that looked like it was 8ft tall. The only thing that wasn't completely black on it was it's eyes, which were white with no pupil.

Menma collected himself and thought, 'If I didn't have Sage mode or the sharingan active right now that kick earlier would have instantly killed me.'-Menma.

"What the hell are you?"-Menma. The figure didn't speak and it rushed at him again. Menma prepared himself for the next attack and was ready to retaliate. Menma thought he would be safe behind the flames but the monster somehow started absorbing the Amaterasu flames. Menma's eyes widened in surprise. "What the hell?!?! How can the everlasting flames be absorbed?!"-Menma.

The figure suddenly disappeared again and Menma sensed it behind him. The figure was going to attack but Menma was ready that time and quickly delivered a kick to his knee cap.

But while Menma was in the middle of kicking him he quickly had to pull back his kick because he realized the bottom of his sandals disintegrated when it came in contact with him.

'The hell? As soon as I made contact with him my sandal started to disintegrate'-Menma.

Menma's thoughts were interrupted when he was getting rushed at again and he thought, 'This is gonna take awhile.'-Menma.

Minako's House

Both of the Menma clones finished searching and they finally announced, "Ok, there is no one around here at all. So we're safe, they must have given up and left already." The clone announced as he leaned on a wall. Everyone else in the kitchen became less tense and sighed in relief.

The clone was getting ready to start doing basic protection for the house and he turned around. But when he turned around he noticed writing on the wall. He read it and it said, When you turn around, you will...

Menma's eyes widened and he started sweating. He moved his finger out of the way and looked at the last kanji. It read, You will die.

Menma slowly turned around and saw a black figure coming out of the ground with a vanta black blade. 'What the hell is that?!?! How could my sage mode not have sensed him?!?!'-Menma.

The person climbed all the way out of the shadow and was getting ready to kill Suigetsu and Mina. Both of the Menma's noticed him and pushed Suigetsu and Mina out of the way. "WATCH OUT!"-Menma.

As they did that they were both instantly eliminated. The blade cut straight through their arms and suddenly the entirety of their body that wasn't decapitated was engulfed by darkness and they disappeared.

Suigetsu looked at where he was pushed from and saw that the only thing left behind were the arms of the 2 clones which were slowly turning back into wood.

Both of them started sweating profusely and Suigetsu said, "Wha... what the hell just happened?!?! What happened to them?!?!" Suigetsu stood up and continued, "Is there an enemy here?! If there was then how did Menma not sense them?!?"-Suigetsu.

Mina remained on the ground with heavy heaving breaths almost like she was hyperventilating. Suigetsu pulled the executioner's blade off of his back and got in a ready position.

After a few seconds all 3 of the brothers somehow climbed out from under a chair. They were clearly visible now and their features consisted of small yet toned builds. Their outfits were all vantablack and the only visible body part on them showing were their eyes. Which somehow had naturally black sclera and green irises.

Sachi pulled out his matching vantablack blade and Sen stated, "We don't need to kill them. That was not the mission."-Sen. He complied and put his blade away.

Suigetsu rushed towards them before they could finish their conversation and slashed at them. They didn't react and let the blade cut right through them.

Suigetsu thought they would be cut for sure, but as soon as the blade made contact with their skin it passed right through them and the blade now had multiple bite marks on it that rendered the blade to a third of its size.

Suigetsu was left dumb founded, but before he could do anything he was knocked out. Mina finally got of her shock and was ready to fight, but it was already too late and they knocked her out.

2 of the brothers started walking off to find Minako but Saburo stayed behind and observed Mina's unconscious frame. He kneeled down next to her and slowly peeled back the part of her cloak that was covering her breast.

He put his head on her chest and listened for a heartbeat. He heard the thumps of her chest and stood back up. Sachi stopped walking and looked at him. "What are you doing?"-Sachi. Sen also stopped walking and was also curious.

"Something doesn't seem right about this woman. She is clearly alive, but it seems like she doesn't have a soul."-Saburo. Sachi walked up next to him and looked at her. "You do have a point. Have you also noticed how close of a resemblance she has to Menma? Do you think he somehow has a sister?"-Sachi.

Sen shook his head and stated, "That's not possible. Naruto Uzumaki was the last remaining relative of Menma, and he died 2 years ago."-Sen.

They all thought about it for a little while longer until Saburo stated, "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. We have a job to do."-Saburo.

The other 2 brothers agreed and they all walked toward the same direction. "This is where she is kept. They said this is her safe room."-Sachi. Sen opened the door to the room and looked inside.

They all were surprised when they saw that there was a hole in the wall and the room was empty. Saburo sighed and said, "Well this is just gonna prolong the inevitable."

Archive Room

The last shadow clone picked up another document and the description interested him. It said Project Oblivion. Menma opened the document and saw a picture of a 8ft hulking figure that was surrounded in vantablack all over his body. The paper said that his name was Saki and that he had 3 other brothers who also are associated with Orochimaru.

He has the exact same power as his 3 powers. But Orochimaru wanted to amplify the power of specifically only one of their 2 powers with the curse mark. But seems like the curse mark only partially worked but was ultimately abandoned because of the lost of sanity it caused for the unfortunate brother. The curse mark gave him an upgrade to his power. His original ability is to envelop his own body in a special chakra in the form of a shadow, it's main purpose is as a camouflage that blends in with literally anything perfectly. But this upgrade rewired the chakra cloak so that it could l atomize anything it comes in physical contact with, whether it's chakra or a physical object.

Menma paled at the thought of the power. 'Sounds like a "I win no matter what" kind of power. The real Menma is fighting him right now... so he might be a little too distracted depending on how powerful and fast he is.'-Menma.

Menma started thinking about if there was anything in his arsenal that could counter that. 'Genjutsu could possibly do something to him. But I don't want that to be the first thing we test out... Oh yeah! I could use the rinnegan! I could use the Preta path to absorb the chakra out of his vantablack cloak since it's made of chakra!'

Menma thought he came up with the solution until he thought, 'Wait, nevermind. To do that we would need to make physical contact. And that could either harm me or let him grab me, so there might be another way.'

Menma thought and thought. He thought about all of his powers until he eventually thought of the truth seeking orbs. 'The tso! Those are perfect, they can nullify and absorb any chakra it comes in contact with. And I can manipulate into any shape across any distance. This is the safest way to defeat this guy!' The clone thought as it ignored the rest of the document and puffed away

Western Hideout

Menma dropped onto the ground from his wounds. He looked up at the figure who still seemed unharmed and tried stabbing him with a branch, but it just incinerated on contact.

Menma took a deep breath and sighed. 'I think I've found out his ability. His ability has something to do with using his chakra to make a cloak of void that destroys anything it touches. But how can I counter that? There isn't any weak points on him.'-Menma.

Menma tried thinking of a way and as if on que he gained the memories of a shadow clone and learned everything. He smirked and thought, 'I still haven't mastered the rinnegan. So far I still haven't learned the Deva path, and I haven't tried out the Animal path yet. So using the Truth Seeking Orbs is perfect! And now can be a perfect opportunity to try out the animal path!' Menma deactivated his sage sharingan and activated the rinnegan. He stood up ignoring his wounds and gave Saki a confident smirk. "So, your name is Saki! Well my name is Menma, remember it for when I kill you!"-Menma.

Saki didn't respond and started running towards him again. Menma bit his thumb and slammed his hand on the ground and a huge smoke cloud appeared. 'Please work please work please work.'-Menma.

Menma looked at the smoke cloud as it started to dissipate. Eventually Menma could see the outline of the figure in the smoke and make out the shape of a dog.

He could hear the dog growl and it cleared the rest of the smoke with a loud roar. Menma smiled at the sight and took a deep breath. He manifested 2 tso in his hands and transformed one into a huge sword that was bigger than even the executioner's blade, and his normal sage blade in his other hand.

The dog charged at him first and started relentlessly attacking him. None of the attacks damaged Saki but they kept him in place because of the insane regenerative powers of the dog summon.

Menma started rushing towards Saki. 'I don't have time to drag this fight out, so I'm gonna kill you quickly so I can go back home as quick as possible.'-Menma.

Menma blitzed Saki and stabbed him with the sage blade first, which caused the part of the blade that was inside of him to turn into spikes and stab through him in dozens of different places.

Saki grunted in pain and the spikes wrapped around him like rope. Menma picked up the huge sword in his other hand and swung it clean through Saki's head.

Saki's body dropped down to the floor and Menma dropped both of his weapons. He started to catch his breath. The dog summon walked up to him and sat next to him. Menma looked at it and said, "Ya know. Even though you have a giant piercing in your nose and you always look like you're growling, you can be cute sometimes."

The dog didn't respond and Menma laughed to himself. "What am I doing?" Menma tried to stand up but fell back down to the ground. 'Damn you Saki, you cut off the tendons in my legs. My healing factor won't be able to heal them as fast as I like.' Menma thought.

The dog walked closer to him and nudged at him. Menma asked, "What do you wa"- Menma was interrupted when the dog suddenly flung him up in the air and he fell on his back.

Menma was confused for only a second but then he felt like he could hear the dogs thoughts. He instinctively grabbed it's fur as it jumped up through the ceiling. He smiled and thought, 'Does the rinnegan really make us this connected?'

He looked back down at the ground and noticed that the vantablack chakra cloak of the man started burning when it made contact with the sun.

He decided to ignore that for now and looked for Karin's chakra signature. He found it on the top floor and got off of the dog. Menma looked at the dog and said, "Uhhh, sit." The dog sit and Menma smiled. "Stay."

Menma deactivated his rinnegan and activated his EMS. He created a clone to make sure the dog stays and gazed through the floor.

He appeared in front of Karin. She turned around and aimed a gun at him and fired it at his chest. Menma stood still as the bullet penetrated him like he was paralyzed. But then his chakra network became erratic and he placed himself under a genjutsu.

After a few seconds the genjutsu disappeared and Menma was back to normal. 'Glad to know that works.' Karin was about to shoot the gun at him again but Menma used the Asura path to transform his finger into a gun barrel.

He shoot it at the gun in her hand and her gun went flying out of her hands. She tried to run away but Menma used Kotoamatsukami before she could turn around. He flew towards her and asked, "Where the switch to release all of your prisoners?"-Menma.

She pointed at a red button on the wall of the control room. Menma noted the info and used the kotoamatsukami in his other eye to ask, "Where is the Eastern Hideout?"-Menma.

Everything was silent for a little while until she eventually replied, "I do not know."-Karin. Menma was surprised by the response and thought, 'So not even one of the higher ups know?'-Menma.

Because the Kotoamatsukami didn't work Karin snapped back to normal. Menma grabbed her before she could do anything.

She looked away from him and he asked her, "How do you not know where the Eastern Hideout is?"-Menma.

Forest Near Minako's House

Saburo, Sachi, and Sen and if looked at from a distance would seem like they were sinking into the ground and rising up out of it somewhere else.

After a few minutes of the same movements they eventually caught up to Minako. They sunk into a shadow and reappeared behind Minako using her shadow.

Toshiro noticed that the 3 brothers were already behind them and he got into a fighting position. "This is a pleasant surprise."-Saburo.

"It seems like Toshiro has betrayed the boss."-Sachi. "We'll have to report this later."-Sen.

They quickly knocked out Toshiro without hesitation and grabbed Minako. They chopped her neck and knocked her unconscious.

"It seems like we have completed our mission."-Saburo announced. They were all about to leave but Sachi suddenly pointed at a little girl behind a tree.

The other 2 brothers looked at where he was pointing and Sen asked, "Is that Minako's daughter?"-Sen. Saburo waved her off and stated, "She is not part of our mission, we must take Minako to the royal army nearby as Orochimaru ordered us."-Saburo.

Western Hideout

Menma sighed and noticed he was getting nowhere, he was ready to kill her. He manifested a knife in his hand and had the point of it touch Karin's stomach.

She had a tear in her eye and looked at him. "Please don't."-Karin. For a split second they both made eye contact. And in that split second it felt like an a whole minute.

When Menma saw Karin's face clearly his eyes widened and he started seeing Minako face while at the same time remembering Karin's. 'She has the same matching red hair and eyes. And I'm sure I've seen her before... maybe in the Chunin Exams...' "Karin, tell me your full name."-Menma.

She was confused by the question but answered, "Karin Uzumaki."-Karin. Menma smiled at her and responded, "My name is Menma Uzumaki, you might remember me from that time I saved you from being eaten by a bear in the chunin exams a couple years ago."-Menma.

Karin's eyes widened as she also remembered the memory. Menma gained a serious face and stood straight up, "I'm sorry for making you feel scared... but horrible things are happening right now... I can tell that you don't feel entirely passionate about your job, and since you failed in your duty to protect this hideout he might want to get rid of you, so I'll make you an offer to come with me."-Menma.

Karin was astonished and left speechless by the open offer after they just met. But before she could say a word Menma stated, "I know this seems like a difficult decision, but right now I have to go back home quickly, so just stay here and I can come back." Menma stated as he released the prisoners and absorbed all of the nature energy in the area.

Menma climbed back up on top of the dog summon and told it, "Let's go buddy. I've already been gone too long, let's go before anything bad can happen!"-Menma.


	20. Thank You, Minako

Itachi tossed Killer Bee's body onto the floor and stood on the finger that matched his ring. Everyone else got into position. The only remaining Akatsuki members were Itachi, Kisame, Pain, Tobi, and Zetsu.

"Our goal is nearly accomplished, after this the only Jinchuriki left is somewhere in the Leaf."-Pain.

Pain noticed Itachi seemed somewhere else and he asked him, "Is something on your mind Itachi?"-Pain. "Yes, something that I've been wondering is how do we know that there is Jinchuriki in the Leaf right now? It makes sense that the beast would have manifested by now, but the only ninja who was able to seal the kyuubi is dead."-Itachi.

"This is true Itachi, but you remember the child Menma correct?"-Pain. Itachi nodded and stated, "I met him a year ago while he was training with Jiraiya. And at that time he somehow had a sharingan and wasn't a Jinchuriki."-Itachi.

Pain replied, "Correct, Menma is a Uzumaki, which is why he was able to survive losing his Jinchuriki. But his family tree and connections make him dangerous. His father was the one who sealed away the Kyuubi, his mother was the previous Jinchuriki, and his master is a sealing master who was the previous sensei of his father. It's very likely that he has been taught many Uzumaki sealing techniques along with how to use the sharingan genjutsu. So he has the greatest chance of being the Jinchuriki, especially because of how much his village despises the beast."-Pain.

Itachi accepted his analogy and they proceeded with the ritual. Pain was the first start extracting Bee's chakra and everyone else soon followed.

Everyone was about to get into their own personal meditative state knowing that this would take at least 5 days. But before they could they all heard a puff and they noticed that the place that Bee was laying at now had an octopus tentacle in its place.

Both Tobi and Zetsu laughed and Tobi exclaimed, "Hahaha! An octopus leg!"-Tobi. The black side of Zetsu said, "Shut up."

Pain undid his hand sign and said, "Well this is unexpected." Pain looked towards the Akatsuki's last Bijuu capture team and said, "I'm surprised that Bee was able to trick you two. But nonetheless you must try to capture him again."-Pain. They both nodded and left the hideout.

Kisame had eyes leaking with suspicion that were looking directly at Itachi until they were outside. Itachi looked up at the sky and announced, "We should find somewhere to sleep for now."-Itachi. "Wait"-Kisame.

Itachi turned around and Kisame stated, "First you leave me and Kakazu and Hidan suddenly die. And when we met Killer Bee it almost seemed like he was expecting us. And lastly there's no way you wouldn't have been able to see through that trick he pulled. Just what is this game you're playing?"-Kisame.

Itachi sighed and responded, "I'm going to exterminate the remaining members of the Akatsuki."-Itachi.

Menma

Menma formed a jacket around himself and covered himself with the dogs fur as he noticed the falling snow. Menma looked over the dogs head and saw Minako's house in the distance.

Menma rubbed the wound on his leg placed a hand on the dogs head. He rubbed it and said, "Thank you." Before jumping off of it and dispelling it.

He ran towards the house and noticed that the door was destroyed. Once he reached the door he ran straight in and looked around. 'Am I already too late.'-Menma.

He noticed Mina and Suigetsu unconscious on the ground and yelled out, "Hello?!? IS ANYONE THERE?!?! Nozomi?!? Toshiro?... Minako..."

Menma fell to the ground and felt defeated. He heard footsteps at the backdoor and aimed his gun at it. He heard Nozomi's voice and quickly ran towards the door to open it.

Menma saw Nozomi with Toshiro's unconscious body behind her and he dragged him inside.

He sat him on a chair and kneeled next to Nozomi and asked, "Do you know where Minako is?"-Menma. Nozomi shook her head and replied, "No, all I heard them say was that they would take her to a royal army."-Nozomi.

Menma stood up and was about to leave but Nozomi started crying and said, "What's going on? I want my mom back..."-Nozomi.

Menma realized how insensitive he was being and put a hand on Nozomi's shoulder. He made a forced foxy grin and tried to give her a thumbs up.

Just the action of lifting his arm felt like he was fighting against an inevitable fate. "Nozomi, I'll bring your mom back... I pro-... prom-... promise."-Menma.

Nozomi tried to believe in Menma but even she could tell he wasn't confident in himself. Nozomi wiped away her tears and stated, "You've been acting different ever since you've met that old man."-Nozomi.

Menma gasped and Nozomi continued, "I've seen the man before. He came to me once, he told me that I was the key to something."-Nozomi.

Menma kneeled down next to her and replied, "I have to go now. But don't listen to anything that guy says, there's something wrong with him."-Menma. Nozomi nodded and Menma teleported away.

Menma looked around and took a deep breath. He channeled as much chakra as he could muster and made 8,000 shadow clones. They all nodded and started searching.

Menma manifested a Truth Seeking Orb and turned it into a platform to sit. He flew high up in the air and waited.

Itachi And Kisame

Both Itachi and Kisame were panting and Kisame started laughing. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't go soft."-Kisame. Kisame walked up to Itachi and offered him a hand.

Itachi accepted it and Kisame stated, "It's weird to know that you were a spy this entire time. But if you weren't here I would most likely leave the Akatsuki anyway... but I'm wondering, just when did you decide you stop spying on us?"-Kisame.

"It happened after I used Tsukiyomi on Menma. While I was talking to him he revealed to me that Sasuke was dead. My bargain with the 3rd Hokage was that I would spy on the Akatsuki as long as Sasuke was alive. But after he died I had no more reason to spy on them, so I decided I would exterminate the Akatsuki."-Itachi.

"Well that makes sense, so that means you lied about Menma not being the Jinchuriki right?"-Kisame. Itachi shook his head and replied, "No, I wasn't lying when I said Menma didn't have the 9 tails."-Itachi.

Kisame grunted and stated, it's strange to think that someone could survive something like losing a tailed beast, but that doesn't matter right now. Where are we going?"-Kisame.

"Let's go to the Sound village. We should meet Menma."-Itachi.

Sound Village

Menma sat on his chair biting his nails for what felt like days until it was nighttime. Eventually one of his clones puffed and he gained the memories he needed. He took back his chakra by dispelling the rest of the clones and stood up.

Menma teleported to the place he needed to and he looked at the moon seal on his right hand, and unwillingly thought back to what Adonai said, "Listen to whatever she tells you."-Adonai.

Menma shook the thought and started walking. Menma looked around and noticed that this was some high level prison in some royal kingdom in the land of Hot Water. He looked outside of the window and saw that he was at least 20 stories up in the air.

Menma unconsciously activated his Gods Determination power and started walking towards Minako's chakra signature. But something was a little different this time, his mind was clouded with one goal and his dark determination was represented by both the God Seal and a fire in his eyes.

Menma turned a corner and a guard saw him. "Hey, you can't be in"- before the guard could finish his sentence Menma placed his right hand on his face and turned him into dust.

On his way to Minako's cell he met multiple guards, and treated them the same way he did the first guard and dusted them.

When he passed by a cell someone called from inside and asked, "Hey you think you can"- but before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by Menma dusting him.

Menma came face to face with Minako's cell and walked through it. His seal faded back into his arm and his dark determination faded. He ran over to Minako who was looking outside the window, at the moonlit sky.

Minako turned around and looked at Menma. She wore a fancy white kimono and a silver necklace matched with an opal gemstone pendant around her neck. "Menma, what are you doing here?"-Minako. Menma walked up to her and said, "I'm gonna get you out of here obviously!"-Menma.

Minako looked down and stated, "Menma... I'm not leaving."-Minako. Menma's eyes widened and he grabbed her shoulders, "Minako... th- this is no time for jokes, of course you are! They'll kill you!"-Menma.

Minako took a deep breath and looked at the moon. "Menma, remember what I told you after I finished telling you about my past?"-Minako.

Menma nodded and thought back to what she said, "I don't wish to die, but I believe that this is my inevitable fate."-Minako.

Minako smiled and told him, "Well this is that moment, after this I'll finally be cleansed."-Minako. Menma shook his head and he felt some tears in his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about Minako?!? What about all of us?!? Suigetsu, Mina, your own daughter Nozomi, and me..."-Menma.

Minako stood up and cupped Menma's face, "Menma, I want you to wipe my daughters memories of me, she can't bear the pain of me dying, but you can."-Minako.

Menma's eyes widened to the point where he thought they would fall right out and he backed up. "Minako... Minako..." tears started pouring rapidly from his face and he grabbed his head, "What the hell are you saying Minako?!?! Did they drug you?!?! I just... I just don't understand..."-Menma.

Minako looked at him and shared some of his sadness. Suddenly she spoke and stated, "I haven't told you my entire past Menma."-Minako.

Minako walked over to Menma and brought him to her bed, she continued, "Before I was adopted by the royal family of this place, I had parents that died of a mysterious illness, it was like their body slowly shattered like glass. They told me they were going back to where they came from and disappeared in a golden ray of light." Minako held the Opal gem around her neck. "Before they left they passed down this opal gem to me, they told me it was something that would let me meet my guardian angel, and that they would protect me through all hardships in the future... for the longest time I didn't believe that this was true, because my life has been full of hardships and no one ever came to help."-Minako.

Minako smiled and looked at Menma, "But then I met you, and for the past month that I've known you so many wonderful things have happened. I don't haven't had to worry about Hagetaka anymore, and I don't have anymore money problems for the homeless shelter anymore... you've truly been a blessing."-Minako.

Menma was touched by the words and Minako sighed. "I was planning on passing down this gemstone to Nozomi...But unfortunately I won't be able to. Because soon after meeting you an old man approached me and told me I would have to go back home."-Minako.

Menma glared at the ground and asked, "Why the hell should you listen to that guy, he's crazy! I talked to him before! Just because you can go home doesn't mean you have to! This is your home! What about all of us?!?"-Menma.

Minako sighed a sigh of sorrow and responded, "You're right Menma, but I-UGHH!" Minako was cut off when a piece of her leg shattered off.

Menma panicked and tried to heal the wound with his sun seal but it didn't heal. Minako continued and said, "If I could stay I would, but I can't Menma. I'm an angel, and like my parents I can't stay in this place for too long. If I stay a day longer I'll fade away and will never be able to meet you again. So I have to willingly let the light take me so I'm saved."-Minako.

Menma finally understood the situation. He didn't know what an angel was, but he didn't care. All that mattered right now was that she was right about an inevitable fate. He realized he wouldn't be able to stop her, and that he would only harm her by doing so.

He hugged her and grasped on the her tightly. His tears stained her white kimono and he told her, "I don't want you to leave Minako, I don't wanna lose another person close to me."-Menma.

Minako rubbed him right above the back of his neck to comfort him, she recently found out that this spot was basically like rubbing the back of a dogs ear for him.

She separated herself from him and told him, "Tell me something you love about me."-Minako. Menma was surprised by the question and did not respond right away. Minako decided to go first and said, "Ok I'll go first. Hmmm... I love how sudden your emotions can change, like when you go being serious to being embarrassed, I find it so cute."-Minako.

Menma got out of his shock and wiped away his tears. He smiled and responded, "I love how easily you get lost when picking apples."-Menma. Minako passed for a second then responded, "I love that your favorite food is ramen!"-Minako.

"I love that you still have sloppy handwriting."-Menma. "I love your long eyelashes."-Minako. "I love how you always end up mixing colors and whites when washing clothes."-Menma. "I love how soft your hands are when I hold them."-Minako. "I love how clumsy you are."-Menma.

Minako pouted and stated, "I feel like I'm just getting insulted."-Minako. Menma maintained his smile and replied, "But they're all things I genuinely love about you."-Menma.

Minako gained a heart warming smile that felt like it could light up the sky. She replied, "I love how you always drink my tea like it's the best thing in the world, even though you don't like tea at all."-Minako.

Menma was surprised she noticed but he maintained his smile. "I love how easily scared you can be."-Menma. "I love that you try to hold back your tears while maintaining that smile, even though your pain is only swelling up."-Minako.

Menma lost his smile and made eye contact with her again. He simply said, "Minako." Minako looked outside the window and stated, "My life was good... but this is all gonna end soon."-Minako.

Another piece of Minako fell off and Menma started to get emotional again. Minako asked him, "Menma, can you hold me close again please?"-Minako.

Menma did what she asked without hesitation and hugged her tightly. She returned the hug and now it was her turn to start crying. "I have to leave now."-Minako.

Menma's eyes widened and Minako backed up towards her open window. "I'm so happy!"-Minako. "STOP IT!"-Menma. Minako's legs started to shatter and a golden light enveloped her body.

"I'm truly glad that I met you!"-Minako. "STOP! DON'T SAY IT!"-Menma shouted as tears poured out of his eyes. "Thank you very much!" Minako exclaimed while also having tears. Minako's body started floating out of the window and Menma tried to grab her hand, but it just shattered on impact.

"Just like how my parents gave this opal pendant to me, I want you to pass it on to Nozomi!" Minako stated. Menma tried running towards her and yelled, "HANG ON! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

Minako's body was finally fully enveloped by the light and her entire body shattered, only leaving behind the pendant which started falling. "MINAKOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Menma shouted as he jumped out of the window.

He grabbed the pendant out of the air and held it towards his heart as he fell all the way down. But it didn't matter to him. Even if he truly wanted to die such a fall could only knock him out.

As he was falling he felt like part of the golden light enveloped himself and he felt a surge. Menma eventually hit the ground, and when he did he remained still.

Menma could tell that all of the bones in his legs were broken and that his legs were bleeding nonstop. He didn't bother to do anything about it but he didn't have to. Because after one minute his leg was enveloped in light and it was healed.

He sat up and looked at his leg, and without his consent his mouth started moving and they spoke the words, "An Angel's blessing."-Menma. Menma smiled and said to himself, "Thank you, Minako."-Menma.

Time passed as he sat there and mourned while gazing up at the moon. Eventually the sun came out and he stood up. He sighed and started walking back home. 'He already knew what was going to happen... I don't wanna talk to him anymore. Nothing good has ever happened because of him... well I guess that's not all true, he did save my life... whatever, I don't have time to think about this right now." Menma thought.

20 Minutes Later

Menma arrived on the same block as Minako's... Minako's home. Menma's heart started racing and he looked down at the necklace in his hand. 'I have to erase Nozomi's memory?? What the hell! I'm just supposed to pretend Minako never existed?!?'-Menma.

Menma's thoughts inevitably started drifting to what Adonai told him. "Listen to everything she tells you to do." Menma's gritted his teeth and thought, 'Damn you Adonai.'-Menma.

Menma had so much pent up stress in him that he had to let out. He looked up at the sky. Even the clouds looked like him. "ADONAIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!" Menma yelled up at the sky.

Minako's House

Suigetsu woke up to hear yelling outside. He rubbed his head and asked, "Did Menma come back yet?" Mina woke up next and replied, "I don't know, he isn't back yet?"

Before they could ask anymore questions Menma walked through the front door with his hair covering his eyes.

Nozomi walked into the front room and they all saw him without Minako. Nozomi was the first to ask, "Where is my mom?"-Nozomi.

Menma remained silent and Suigetsu and Mina gave him the same questioning look. Toshiro peeked around the corner and walked up to the rest of the group.

Menma still had his eyes covered and Mina asked, "Menma, why aren't you saying anything? Where is Minako?"-Mina. Toshiro was the next to speak and he asked, "Is she"- but before he could finish his sentence Menma finally gave response and looked up at all 4 of them. They all directly into his red EMS and he spoke one word, "Kotoamatsukami."-Menma.

Menma didn't say out loud what his command was, but the action still followed through nonetheless. After a few seconds Suigetsu asked him, "Why were you out so long last night?"

After hearing that Menma felt like part of his soul disappeared. He gave them a sorrowful smile and replied, "I got lost in the forest and found something near a waterfall."

Menma walked up to Nozomi and knelt down in front of her. He pulled out a necklace from his pocket and put it around her neck. He told her, "This is something that will let you meet your guardian angel, and they will guide you through all hardships."-Menma.

Nozomi smiled at him and hugged him, "Thank you Menma!"-Nozomi. Menma leaned his head against hers and told her, "Nozomi, I just want to let you know that for as long as I'm alive I'll always protect you." Menma kissed her on the forehead and stood up.

Before anyone could track his movements he quickly took down all the pictures of Minako and stashed them away. Menma started walking towards his bedroom and took one last glance at all of his friends. 'Never again.' Menma thought as he turned around.

Menma arrived in his room and looked at all of the pictures of Minako. He picked up one of Minako with her husband and daughter. "I'll never forget about Minako."-Menma.

Menma looked at the rising sun and took a deep breath. His shoulders still felt heavy, and he knew the job wasn't over.

He got into the into a familiar position on the bed that he felt like he rehearsed a thousand times and waited. Eventually he saw a figure in the room and he once again saw Adonai.

Neither of them spoke a word for what felt like hours until Menma eventually asked, "Who are you? Because I can clearly tell you're not human, you're probably not even from this world."-Menma.

Adonai sighed and replied, "Even if I told you who I was you wouldn't understand. I haven't spread my influence to this world in any way. In fact, it's because I haven't influenced this world that I'm able to come here in person so frequently."-Adonai.

Menma groaned at his answer and responded, "You keep on telling me all this wise man stuff but I can never understand it, why can't you tell me?"-Menma.

"I can't tell you because that would mean I have spread some form of influence to this world. The only way I would be able to freely do whatever I wanted to do is if I visited something I created and had separated it from everything else, but this is not one of those cases."-Adonai.

Menma gave him an agitated groan in response and said, "Can you quit talking so blandly?!? Damn, just tell me something new for once!"-Menma.

Adonai frowned and said, "You've heard everything I said so far right?"-Adonai. Menma nodded and Adonai followed up with, "So you're are clearly hearing what I'm saying, but you're not listening. I've been telling you new information this entire time."-Adonai.

Menma didn't respond and Adonai stated, "Ok, I'll tell you something to widen your perspective and give you some insight." Menma's interest was peaked and Adonai stated, "Did you ever wonder why Odin hasn't ever come here himself to deal with you? Something like, "well he's clearly more powerful than anyone alive right now, so why doesn't he just come down here and smite me"?"-Adonai.

Menma confirmed, "Yes I've wondered that before." Adonai smirked and replied, "Well Odin is a God, what do you think of when you think of God's?"-Adonai. Menma thought for a second and replied, "I usually think of things like omnipotence, omniscience, unlimited power, being above everyone else, those kinds of things. Why?"-Menma.

"Yes, that's true for some Gods. But I'm going to give you a little lesson about the multiverse. But before I start I want to clarify that there are a near infinite amount of multiverses out there, but we're going to be focusing on ours considering we are one of the big 2." Adonai cleared his throat. "On the lowest level of existence there is paves like this. This is a planet, inside solar system, inside a galaxy, inside a universe. And besides this universe there are infinite others contained inside one place."-Adonai.

"Wait hold up, if it's infinite then how can it be contained in one place?"-Menma. Adonai smiled and replied, "It's best not to ask, but as I was saying. Above the multiverse there is the realm of Gods. And that is where Odin comes from. The fact that he's able to spot out you from the infinite universe's show that he has some small level of omniscience, but he can't know what you're thinking all the time. Now the reason he isn't omnipotent is because he lives with other Gods. When Gods live among each other it's called a polytheism. And polytheism Gods are not omnipotent. They are extremely powerful, but they are not omnipotent. In other words they are killable."-Adonai.

Menma absorbed all the information and asked, "Is there anything above the realm of Gods?"-Menma. "Yes there are a couple more things. But they are irrelevant for now."-Adonai.

Menma learned everything he needed to know and he was about to cancel their session but Adonai spoke, "Menma, I can tell that you hate something about yourself, what is it?"-Adonai.

Menma looked down at the ground and replied, "I hate Kotoamatsukami. I hate the ability for what it made me do..." Adonai walked closer to him and asked, "And what do you plan to do about it?"-Adonai.

Menma looked him dead in the eye and told him, "I don't want this ability anymore. I want to get rid of it!"-Menma.

Adonai knew that this was gonna happen eventually and already came up with what he was going to do. "Menma show me your sharingan."-Adonai.

Menma did what he said but asked, "Why?" Adonai replied, "I'm going to erase your memory of the ability."-Adonai.

1 Hour Later

Menma walked up a dirt hill while reading one of his 4 books and looked around. The view from where he was was nice, but not good enough. He continued to read his book and walked further up the hill.

'This is the perfect seal for what I need!'-Menma thought for closing the book and putting it away.

He continued to walk, and walk. Until eventually he reached the highest peak in the Sound village. He looked at the view and was satisfied. From where he was standing he could perfection.

From where he was he could see a view of the entire village. There was also a large lake that he didn't notice before, and it appeared to be sparkling as it was surrounded by the green fields of grass. The surrounding forests looked plentiful and full of life; the few hills and mountains overshadowing the forest added to the majestic sight before him. Though they were too small for him to pick out individually, the groups of flowers he could see decorated certain parts of the land in the right spots with it's different colors. Menma started working on the shrine he planned for and got to work.

5 Minutes Later

Menma backed away and got a full view of the shrine. The main attraction of the shrine was the carbon copy statue of Minako, but along with that there were chrome and silver pedestals surrounding her that each displayed one of the pictures of her that were in her house.

And the details of the statue included being made out of the purest form of silver. She was dressed with the same white kimono that Menma saw her wearing last, and she had another opal gemstone right below her neck. Her hair was made out of rubies and she had highly detailed eyes. Her sclera was diamonds and her irises were rubies while she had obsidian pupils. She also had pure gold outlines on her outfit that worked as a secondary color.

The final detail on her statue were angelic wings on her back. The way her statue was made almost looked like it was a guardian angel looking over the village. Menma walked to an empty pedestal and placed down one last picture. It was a picture they took at their first dinner. Everyone looked happy.

'I don't know what an angel is, but if I had to imagine one then this is what I would think of.'-Menma thought before placing the protective seal on it. The seal made it so no one would ever be able to touch the statue, neither living or non living objects. If they try to touch it, it would be like touching a wall. Not even an earthquake would affect the seal.

Menma was satisfied with his work and sat next to the statue. Menma heard footsteps walking up to him and he turned around. He saw Itachi and Kisame.

Menma looked a little confused, he was friends with Itachi but Kisame could still be his enemy. Which is why he found it strange that Itachi would approach him with Kisame.

Menma remained silent until Itachi eventually announced, "Don't worry Menma, Kisame is on our side."-Itachi. Menma became much less tense and replied, "Oh, ok." Aling with a sigh of relief.

"So how'd you guys find me? I never told you I would go to the Sound Village."-Menma. "The same way we find all of the Jinchuriki. We have contacts all around the world."-Kisame. Menma accepted the answer and asked, "Well why are you guys here then?"

"I've come to check if you needed help."-Itachi. "With Orochimaru?" Menma asked. Itachi nodded and Mebma continued, "I appreciate the offer but... I want to take care of this myself."-Menma.

"Are you sure?"-Itachi. Menma nodded and stated, "Orochimaru ruined my life, it's only right that I return the favor personally. Besides, I already have my own group helping me."-Menma.

Itachi accepted his answer and turned around. "Pain wants us to hunt down the 8 tails right now. I suggest that after you're done with Orochimaru you should go try to find Killer Bee. But before I leave I want to warn you. Pain will most likely try to hunt you down himself, so be wary."-Itachi.

Menma nodded in confirmation and they all went their separate ways. Menma looked up at the sky and saw that it was noon. 'There's still a lot of time in the day, first I'll go home. But then I'm gonna find out where the Eastern Hideout is.'-Menma.

It's been a long time since I updated and I don't even have an excuse for why. So I'm sorry for that, but now for some self criticism.

A big problem that I think of everytime when I view myself is how I come up with great ideas but I can't seem to put them into words, I should probably try to find someone who can help me with that. But for now I'll talk a little about Minako's death.

I'm not sure what I planned for Minako when I created her, but I'm pretty sure I started thinking about her potential death a couple days after I published her back story, I was stuck on how I would write her death for a while until I decided to take some inspiration from sad animes, ya know. The ones that are always about 9-13 episodes.

I myself can't really feel true emotion when I read something. It has to be in the form of a show or anime for me to really feel anything, which is why I can't comprehend someone getting jumpscared by a horror book. But maybe some of you readers were able to feel something.

Although something else I'm wondering about is how people view the deaths of a character between the author and the reader. I might be overestimating the value of her death since most people probably view her as a support character. But it seemed impactful to me, but maybe that's just because I'm thinking about these characters every minute of the day. If any other authors have similar thoughts please leave a comment on how you guys feel when you write a character's death.

And of course, thank you again for reading my story, and see you in the next chapter.


	21. Revelations

Northern Hideout Main Chambers

Saburo walked into Orochimaru's room and started searching for him. He eventually spotted Orochimaru who was admiring his eyes in the mirror.

"So what was the result of your mission?"-Orochimaru. "Menma doesn't seem as fazed as we expecting. He seems to be taking her death quite well."-Saburo.

Orochimaru backed away from the mirror and turned towards Saburo and asked, "And why do you think that is?"-Orochimaru. "I think it has to do with something she told him before she died. Judging by the look in his eyes he seems sure of something, and he seems to be viewing the little girl in a new look."-Saburo.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean a new look?"-Orochimaru. "It looks like he views her in a daughter kind of way now, he feels responsible for her."-Saburo.

Orochimaru gave a mixed grin in response and stated, "Well it's disappointing that Minako's death didn't work. But the worst feeling for a parent is if something horrible happens to their child."-Orochimaru.

Saburo's brow furrowed and he asked, "Do you wish for us to kill her?"-Saburo. Orochimaru waved a hand and replied, "No, that isn't necessary. Kidnap her and give her to Yurusarenai. He has an even sicker mind than me, so he can come up with something, but make sure you tell him not to kill her."-Orochimaru.

Saburo nodded and asked one last question, "When exactly do you want me to kidnap her?"-Saburo. Orochimaru thought for a second and responded, "Kidnap her sometime today or the next day."-Orochimaru. Saburo nodded and started leaving, but Orochimaru stopped him.

"And one last thing."-Orochimaru. Saburo turned around and waited for an order. "It's time that we make that delivery."-Orochimaru. Saburo simply nodded and started heading towards the storage room.

Minako's House

Menma walked through the front door and looked around. "Hello?"-Menma called out. Suigetsu came out of his room and saw Menma. "Where is everyone else?"-Menma.

Suigetsu replied, "Nozomi is with Mina and I'm hanging out with Toshiro right now."-Suigetsu. Menma nodded and stated, "Well when those 2 get back tell them that I'm searching for the Eastern Hideout."-Menma stated.

Menma was about to walk out but Suigetsu asked him, "Ya know since Hagetaka knows where we live shouldn't we move somewhere else instead of staying here? They could attack us at anytime."-Suigetsu.

Menma turned around and replied, "Orochimaru won't do that. He knows that any threat he sends after us won't be strong enough to stand a chance, and if he wanted us dead he would have already done it. Think about it, what's the point of kidnapping Min-... I mean, attacking us out of nowhere if he could have just slit our throats In the middle of the night? I don't know why, but he wants to take his time."-Menma.

Suigetsu nodded in acknowledgement and started walking back towards his room, but Menma asked him something. "By the way, I never asked who knocked you all out the other day."-Menma.

Suigetsu stopped walking and turned around. "It was 3 people. They all wore vanta black suits, and their eyes were completely white."-Suigetsu.

The description instantly reminded Menma of the Oblivion Project folder he read in the archive room of the Western Hideout. He asked a question to assure himself, "You said there were 3 of them right?" Suigetsu nodded and Menma asked, "What were their abilities?"-Menma.

Suigetsu stated, "All 3 of them seemed to have the same ability. They could seemingly hide inside shadows whenever they touched them, and they can travel to different shadows through that shadow. If I'm being honest I was a little scared when I met them. Somehow they managed to hide their chakra signatures from you while your 2 clones were in sage mode. From my experience your sage mode could sense anything even if it didn't have chakra."-Suigetsu.

Menma asked, "Did they have any other abilities?"-Menma. Suigetsu nodded and said, "When I took a swing at them with my sword it went right through them, and when it came out the other side it had bite marks on it that made it unusable."-Suigetsu.

Menma nodded and replied, "Thank you, that's all I need for now."-Menma stated as he was about to leave, but before he could Suigetsu asked, "There actually was one thing I wanted to discuss with you, do you have time?"-Suigetsu.

Menma replied, "Yeah" and Suigetsu asked, "Did you ever think that the timing that we've decided to come here was a bit too convenient?" Menma cocked his head and asked, "What do you mean?"

Suigetsu responded, "Orochimaru has dozens of hideouts hidden throughout the world, and yet he just happened to have so many important things going on in just 4 hideouts, and we've come at a convenient enough time that he intends on staying here, doesn't that seem weird?"-Suigetsu.

Menma thought about it for a second and replied, "Yeah, but I have a theory. I think that Orochimaru is in the middle of revolutionizing the way that normal people fight. I think he's moved most of the most important operations to this village with the purpose of using as many assets as he can to speed up the process of his inventions. That must be what this gun is a product of. If guns were made public they would be a good way for merchants to protect themselves from bandits. Judging by how fast they shoot anyone of chunin skill or below wouldn't be able to dodge it."-Menma.

Suigetsu nodded and replied, "So far this is the only invention we know about, there's a lot of other stuff he could be hiding somewhere we don't know about."-Suigetsu.

Menma looked outside the window and up at the sky. He stated, "I wanna start searching as early as possible so I gotta go now, but we can finish talking later.

Suigetsu nodded and they both went their separate ways. Menma walked outside and he thought, 'In the folder I read it stated that Saki lost his sanity after gaining a boost to his ability. The thing that caused Suigetsu's blade to have bite marks on it must be the base form of that ability. But why would it have bite marks?'-Menma.

Menma looked up at the sky and saw a murder of crows flying above. The crows reminded him of Itachi and a bell rung in his head. 'He said it passed through him, so it sounds similar to my Kamui ability. So that must mean'- Menma thoughts were interrupted when he a girl bump into him.

The girl said, "Sorry." and started walking away. Menma was about to continue walking when he realized who the voice belonged to. He turned around and replied, "Wait!"-Menma. The girl turned around in response and saw who it was. She took off the hood she was hiding under and walked towards him. "You're just the person I needed to see!"

The Bar

Menma took a sip of his water and asked Karin, "So I have a few questions for you. Can you answer them?"-Menma. Karin nodded and replied, "I should be able to answer almost any question."-Karin.

"How does King Crimson work?"-Menma. Karin raised a brow and asked, "What?" Menma shook his head and replied, "Sorry, wrong universe."-Menma.

Menma cleared his throat and got serious, "When I was invading the Western Hideout I found a folder in the Archive room talking about 4 brothers that had shadow like abilities, I killed Saki so can you tell me more about the other 3?"-Menma.

Karin gathered her thoughts and answered, "Saburo, Sachi, and Sen. They're the personal assassins and errand boys of lord Orochimaru. They've been working for him for a couple years now and they are his secret weapons. They don't have a last name and no one knows where they come from, but they have access to some kind of Kekkei Genkai that let's them merge their bodies into shadows to the point that their chakra and life force are concealed. I believe that at some point they could have beaten Lord Orochimaru, but in his current state even they couldn't beat him."-Karin.

Menma nodded and asked his next question, "Where is the Eastern Hideout?"-Menma. Karin shook her head and replied, "I don't know."-Karin. Menma's head cocked and he asked, "What do you mean you don't know? Aren't you one of the elites?"-Menma.

Karin nodded and responded, "I am, but for some reason the only people who are allowed to know where that place is is Orochimaru and Yurusarenai."-Karin. "Do you at least know what they do there?"-Menma.

Karin nodded and replied, "They do animal and human cross experimentation. Stuff like giving humans tails, putting human minds in animals, and replacing limbs with animal limbs. I've never seen it for myself and I don't want to either."-Karin.

Menma asked, "But wasn't the animal experimentation done at your hideout?"-Menma. "Yes, it was done there for awhile, but thankfully it was moved over to the other hideout before I was allowed to take charge."-Karin.

Menma accepted the answer and stated, "Well that's all I wanted to ask." Before standing up. He was about to leave but Karin poked him on the shoulder. Menma turned around and asked, "What?"-Menma.

"I also have a question."-Karin. Menma gave a face that expressed he was waiting and she asked, "So how is everyone dealing with Minako's death?"-Karin.

Menma lowered his head a little and there was an eerie silence between the 2 until Menma responded, "They're not dealing with it. I erased their memories of her using... some jutsu... I can't think of the name of it at the moment."-Menma.

Karin showed a surprised expression on her face and asked him, "Why would you do that? And if you did then what are their memories of Nozomi? Wouldn't there be a hole in their memory as to why they take care of her?"-Karin.

Menma replied, "I did it cause she asked me too. Nozomi wouldn't be able to deal with that pain and everyone else would be gloomy with her gone. She shined an angelic light on Kitsune and without her Nozomi needs as much positivity as possible... but I was prepared for that possibility when I wiped their memories, I planted fake memories in their heads as to why she resides with us."-Menma.

Karin accepted his answer and asked, "What will you do if she gets captured? I have no doubt that if you stayed home when Minako was there then they would have killed you."-Karin. Menma remained silent for a second until he replied, "I... I don't plan on letting something like that ever happen to her, there's nothing I want to do more than protect her, and if she was captured..." Menma looked at his hand as it started shaking, "I honestly don't know what I would do."-Menma.

Karin felt oppressed under the pressure that Menma was unconsciously releasing and she remained silent, along with everyone else in the bar. Menma eventually realized what he was doing and stopped.

He took a deep breath and asked, "Sorry about that, was there anything else you wanted to ask of me?"-Menma. Karin thought and asked, "Back at the Western Hideout you said you would help me. Can you still do that?"-Karin. Menma thought back to when he met her a day or 2 ago and said, "Yes of course, what do you need?"-Menma. "Could you take me somewhere safe? Now that I failed to protect the Western Hideout Orochimaru will surely want me dead."-Karin.

"Ok, hold onto me."-Menma. Karin's head cocked in confusion and she asked, "What?"-Karin. "Just do it, it's the only way I can take you to the place."-Menma. Karin sighed and blushed. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

The bartender ran over and yelled, "Hey you haven't played for your water y"- but before he could finish his sentence they were already gone.

Mina And Nozomi

Mina and Nozomi left the store and they started heading back home. Nozomi was admiring her stuffed fox toy when Mina felt an uneasy presence.

Mina looked up on top of a building and thought she saw the outline of 3 figures. Mina grabbed Nozomi's hand and they turned into an alley. "Where are we going?"-Nozomi. "This is a shortcut to get back home faster."-Mina.

They almost made it to the end of the alleyway but they were stopped in their tracks by a man who emerged out of the shadow the building created.

Mina turned around and tried to run the other way but another man emerged out of a shadow and stopped her. Mina let go of Nozomi's hand and got into a fighting position. "What the hell do you guys want?!"-Mina.

"We just want the little girl."-Saburo. "Hand her over and we won't have to knock you out again."-Sachi. Mina shook her head and exclaimed, "Like hell I'm just gonna let y"- Mina was interrupted when Sen emerged from her own shadow and knocked her out.

Nozomi called out for help, "MENMA, PLEASE HELP US!!!" But Menma already left the village, so her cries went unanswered.

Asuma

Asuma was currently leaning over a toilet and was vomiting a jet black liquid. Once he was done he flushed it all down and tried to regain his composure. He heard a knock on the door, "Asuma sensei are you okay?"-Choji.

Asuma opened the door and walked out. He reassured Choji, "I'm okay, I just ate a little too much."-Asuma. Choji looked a little confused and replied, "You only had 1 leg. Are you sure that you're feeling okay?"-Choji.

Ino walked over and commented, "Yeah, this past week you've seemed just... tired. Maybe you should take a break from your missions."-Ino.

Asuma remained silent and was lost in his thoughts. 'I can't let anyone know about this, I don't want to hurt the hearts of my students, and especially not my wife.'-Asuma.

"Yeah maybe I should, I haven't been getting as much sleep lately cause Kuranai's pregnancy has been keeping me up. I think I'll just go home right now."-Asuma stated as he began leaving.

Asuma was hell bent on making sure no one found about about his cancer, especially not his wife. The stress of knowing that could possibly make her have a miscarriage. His only hope now was that he'd live long enough to see his baby be born.

Mina

Mina laid in the alleyway for a long time until she finally woke up. When she finally woke up, she went into a panic and searched around frantically. 'They captured Nozomi! I need to get help, where are Menma and Suigetsu!?!'-Mina. Mina ran out of the alleyway and started running back home.

Eastern Hideout

All 3 of the shadow trio walked into the main chambers of the Eastern Hideout. Sachi sat Nozomi's unconscious body onto the floor and looked around for Yurusarenai.

While looking he saw multiple little boys that couldn't have been any older than 11 hiding in multiple corners of the room. When making eye contact with one of the boys he saw a dead look in his eyes and he quickly broke eye contact.

Sen heard footsteps coming out of the bathroom and saw Yurusarenai walk out. He looked just about as ugly as always with his hair that looked like dead grass and his glassy dead fish eyes.

"What do you want?"-Yurusarenai asked as he walked up to the 3. He towered over them at a height of 7ft tall. Saburo cleared his throat and told him, "Orochimaru has ordered us to drop off this girl to you."-Saburo.

Yurusarenai glanced at the girl and picked her up to examine her. "What does he want me to do with her?" Sachi answered next, "He ordered us to tell that he wants you to do anything you want to her, just as long as you don't kill her."-Sachi.

"Uh huh, ok I can do that, but who is this girl anyway?"-Yurusarenai. Sen answered last, "This is the daughter of Minako Uchiha Uzumaki, and Menma Uzumaki has swore an oath to protect her. Orochimaru's goal is to break him and he believes that you can achieve that."-Sen.

All was silent for the longest time until eventually Yurusarenai's grin grew and he replied, "You had me at Minako, I'll be done by the end of the day."-Yurusarenai.

The 3 brothers nodded and were about to leave but Yurusarenai stopped them and told them, "Also tell Orochimaru to bring a huge amount of our gang to this hideout. We're gonna have an auction tonight."-Yurusarenai.

The 3 of them didn't know what he meant by auction but they did what he said and left.

When they left the building they searched around for tree shade and manifested in the physical world. Saburo walked up to a package he had placed against a tree and he told his brothers, "It's time we make this delivery, then our duties will almost be complete."-Saburo.

Orochimaru

Orochimaru sat down in his swivel chair maniacally and the silence left him nothing but his own thoughts. 'Menma is making a surprising amount of progress. How the hell did he get so strong? Just 2 years ago I didn't even have to try to beat him. If I'm correct it was reported to me that he died. So how could he be alive?'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru stood up out of his swivel chair and started walking towards the cell room. 'The first time I talked to Odin he told me that the Sage of 6 Paths would eventually intervene with our plans. Is the sage the one that made him so powerful?' Orochimaru chuckled to himself as he arrived in front of someone's cell, 'It doesn't matter, even if he has obtained both the rinnegan and the eternal Mangekyo sharingan he still won't be able to defeat me, because my ability is absolute.'-Orochimaru.

The man in the cell woke up and recoiled to the back of the cell when he saw Orochimaru with him. The man asked, "What the hell do you want?!?"

Orochimaru made a hand signal that told him to come at him and he stated, "If you can make me fall or kneel I'll let you leave." Orochimaru pulled out a blade from his pocket and tossed it at the inmate.

The man looked confused and asked, "Seriously?" Orochimaru nodded and the man took a deep breath. He looked at Orochimaru but he kept his eyes covered but the man could see a red glint behind his eyes.

The man got into a fighting stance and charged at Orochimaru. Orochimaru made no attempts to stop him as he drove his blade straight through his chest. Blood splattered on the floor and walls and the man pushed the blade in further and tackled Orochimaru to the ground.

Orochimaru fell straight on his butt and the man thought, 'Seriously? Just like that?' But before he could say anything he felt confused. He looked around himself and noticed there was no blood anywhere, not even on the knife he was holding. He looked at Orochimaru and saw him standing there with no wound and not even a tear in his shirt.

Orochimaru hid a grin and asked, "Well, aren't you gonna do it?"-Orochimaru. The man came back to his senses and thought, 'I must have just imagined that, right?' The man ignored his thoughts and charged at Orochimaru again.

This time he went straight for Orochimaru's heart and he stabbed straight through it. Orochimaru made no response to the attack and the man held on to him and threw him to the ground.

Orochimaru laid down on the ground and the man looked up and took a deep breath. 'Finally.' But when he looked back down he saw that Orochimaru was no longer there and he was standing in the same place earlier. He saw Orochimaru standing still with no wound on his clothes and no blood.

The man was left speechless and couldn't think straight, "Wha- what the hell is going on??!!" Orochimaru pretended to be confused and asked, "What do you mean? Aren't you gonna bring me down to the ground?"-Orochimaru.

The man started feeling like he was gonna go mad and he made a mad dash towards the cell door that was open. 'For some reason I can't tackle him, I gotta try to get out of here while I have the chance! I have to'- his thoughts were interrupted when he realized that once again he was standing in the same place as before. He stared directly at Orochimaru and he only gave him a playful grin in response.

Orochimaru played with him for at least 30 minutes until eventually the man took his own life to get out of the madness.

Orochimaru left the cell and started heading towards the archive room and thought, 'One mistake I made was leaving the details of the Western Hideout in the Southern, but I have no info about the Eastern or this hideout within the Western hideout, it impossible for him to find a way to get to these places... unless that Akiro might have done something. His clan used to be known for having the most advanced earth users, they were so good that they could even control dust. Those he words he spout out before he died could a way of saying he would let Menma know where he was. I don't think will, but if he somehow finds out where the Eastern hideout is and he destroys it, I'll have no choice but to have the 3 Kage brothers kill him.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru reached the archive room and pulled out a couple boxes. He pulled out a folder concerning the Senjuro clan. Once he finished reading the documents he felt concerned. 'Back before the Kekkei Genkai purging the Senjuro clan were known as a clan that was better than any messenger bird. Using dust they could create a dust eye they could see out of for reconnaissance, they could also create maps by using dust to write on paper... this is troublesome, I should have read up more on the people I was capturing.'-Orochimaru. Orochimaru took a deep breath and decided to go back to the other box.

He searched for a certain folder and pulled it out. He started reading the contents and he thought, 'Out of all the people that have served me you 3 always shared the best ability. The ability to merge with shadows to the point where you exist in a different plane of reality. Back then I considered stealing one of your bodies, but I've come to realize that you 3 are too valuable for me to disrupt your unity.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's thoughts switched back to Menma. 'Luck doesn't seem to be on my side anymore though. Menma just had to come at such an inconvenient time. Did he know what I would be doing here? Did he know I would have to stay here for a month to look over a now age of inventions? No, it must have just been luck for him. But it doesn't matter, that handgun isn't the only thing I plan on making, I only made that as a first step that will be useful to Hagetaka to make up for their lack of real ninja skills.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru sat down at a study desk and thought, 'When was the last time luck was on my side?'-Orochimaru.

7 Years Ago In The Land Of Water

Kabuto was out gathering supplies while Orochimaru sat in a chair pondering his next move. 'Damn, I was hoping I would be able to discover some the children that survived this genocide. The only one I've discovered is Haku but the demon of the mist Zabuza already acquired him. Hmmmmm.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's thoughts were interrupted when he heard something fall on the ground. He searched for the source of the noise and his eyes came in contact with 2 emerald eyes of a child that was reaching for bread. The boy with ragged clothes seemed frozen in fear.

Orochimaru examined the boy further and noticed that it looked like half of his body was merged with the ground, or more specifically the shadow of a tree. The boy finally regained his confidence and grabbed the bread.

He tried to escape into the darkness of the shadow but Orochimaru grabbed his arm and pulled him out.

As soon as he did that 3 more kids came out of the shadows and rushed at him. Orochimaru manifested snakes from his free arm and trapped them all within the snakes grasp. The biggest of the brothers was somehow able to break free of the snakes grasp and started running at him again. Orochimaru smiled and thought, 'Oh? This one is unnaturally strong.'

He quickly manifested even more snakes and put him in an even tighter grasp. He tried to break free but he couldn't do it this time. All of them had terrified looks on their faces and Orochimaru pondered on what he should do until he came up with an idea. He gave them a fake generous smile and released them all.

They all seemed confused and Orochimaru walked up to all of them and gave them food. "Your gonna give this to us?" One of them asked.

Orochimaru smiled again and told him you need it more than I do. If you need more you can come back, but maybe you should try to be more stealthy next time."-Orochimaru. All of them smiled and said, "Thank you!" Before disappearing.

Once they were gone Orochimaru couldn't hold back a devious grin and thought, 'It seems like luck is on my side now."-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru heard 1 pair of footsteps approaching and bbn looked in the direction of the source. It was Kabuto with grocery bags.

"Kabuto, we're having a change of plans. We're gonna stay here for about another week."-Orochimaru.

Menma

Menma walked through a ripple in an alleyway and started walking towards and thought, 'I don't much use for the Preta path or the Naraka path, and I already use the Animal path and the Human path. I guess I should figure out how to use the Deva path.'-Menma.

Menma's thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone yell, "Hold it!" Menma turned around and saw that the source of the voice was a Hagetaka member holding a knife. Menma smiled and thought, 'This is the perfect opportunity to test it out!'-Menma.

"Hey what's your name?"-Menma. The man was surprised by the question and replied, "Dai."

Menma held out a hand and pointed it at Dai. "Go Dai!"-Menma. Nothing happened and the man with the knife looked a little confused. Menma made a different sign with his hand and said, "Fly!" Still nothing happened and Menma started trying out multiple signs and he kept on spouting phrases.

"Up up and away Dai! Shazam! Go! Go! Go Dai go!!"-Menma. This went on for a whole minute and Dai felt confused. 'What the hell? Is this guy insane? I got a little worried when I saw that it was Menma of Kitsune but now I just think he's crazy.'-Dai.

Dai turned around and started leaving. "Hey don't go away!"-Menma. Menma made a frustrated grunt and gave up. Menma started heading back home and was left to his thoughts.

15 Minutes Later

Menma arrived back home as the clock hit noon and he entered through the door. As soon as he entered the house he heard light sobs coming from Suigetsu's room.

He walked down the hallway and opened the door. What he saw was Suigetsu comforting Mina as she was shaking. Menma walked towards them with a concerned look on his face.

Toshiro showed up behind him and had a similar look on his face. "Did something happen?"-Menma. Mina looked Menma dead in his eyes and her look told him everything.

Menma felt a chill up his spine and he was paralyzed as the realization sunk in. Menma walked closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder. At first Mina thought it was for comfort but she felt the pressure on her shoulder increase.

Menma lifted her off the ground with his hand on her shoulder and brought her to eye level. Menma's eyes were wide open and he said, "How could you let this happen?"-Menma.

Suigetsu stood up and stated, "It wasn't her fault Menma! Those 3 are way too strong!"-Suigetsu. Menma stood unfazed by his words and he didn't release her until they all heard knocks at the door.

Once she was released, she started taking deep breaths and Toshiro asked, "Are you alright?" She nodded and said, "I'll be fine. But his presence was suffocating, Menma's not in a right sense of mind right now. You might have not seen it but it was like his pupils were fire."-Mina.

Suigetsu patted her and told her, "Stay here, we'll deal with it from here."-Suigetsu. Suigetsu waved for Toshiro to follow him and they went towards the front door.

By the time they arrived Menma had already placed the package they received on the table. He opened it dozens of extremely thick glass panels were lined up from numbers 1-20. There were instructions that said to separate them 6 inches from each other and to turn off the lights.

Menma's eyes narrowed skeptically but he followed the directions. Once he placed them 6 inches from each other he walked towards the light switch and turned it off. Once he did the eyes of all 3 of them widened to the point where it looked like their eyes could fall out at anytime.

Inside each of the panels where severed body parts. Menma could tell who was because of the missing hands. If you pushed all of the glass panels next to each other it would look exactly like a normal corpse.

Toshiro also remembered who it was, it's hard to forget someone that died right in front of you when you could have stopped it. He felt vomit rise up in his throat and he fell to his knees and released the liquid all over the floor.

"Akiro. So this is why you never came back to the shelter." There was sadness in Menma's voice but he retained a serious expression.

Toshiro's eyes opened wide once again and he asked Menma, "Did you say Akiro?" Menma nodded and Toshiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a paper he had been keeping.

He walked up to Menma and handed him the paper. "This is a paper Nozomi found near the homeless shelter, it was signed by someone named Akiro."-Toshiro.

Menma examined the paper and saw what appeared to be some kind of map. It showed a path leading from the homeless shelter to what seemed to be a hideout deep in the woods.

Menma put the paper in his pocket and thought to himself, 'Thank you Akiro for guiding me, and thank you Nozomi for noticing this.' Menma walked outside and looked up at the sky as the sun's rays peeked through the clouds. 'I won't fail you, Minako.' Was the last thing Menma thought as the fire returned to his eyes and he ran towards his goal.


	22. Eastern Hideout

Land Of Water Orochimaru's Memories

Orochimaru looked at his watch and thought, 'They usually come around this time.' Orochimaru looked around and saw that all of the food was still where he had placed it.

He waited for a few more minutes and started to think they weren't coming. Orochimaru stood up and was about to walk away but he felt someone poke his shoulder. He turned around to see all 4 of the brothers holding food in their hands.

Orochimaru had a slightly surprised look on his face and asked, "How long have you all been here?"-Orochimaru. Saburo smiled and juggled a couple apples in his hands. "We've been here for about 10 minutes waiting for you to notice us."-Saburo.

Orochimaru had a look of slight surprise on his face and he smiled. "You all seem to have a lot of natural talent when it comes to stealth. But don't get cocky, tomorrow I'll really be trying to sense you!"-Orochimaru.

Sachi said, "Bring it on!" And they all left.

Eastern Hideout Modern Day 1:00pm.

Menma arrived at his goal and looked around. 'There isn't even a clearing or a building. Is there a seal hiding this place?'-Menma. Menma's thoughts were interrupted when he saw a seal hidden below the grass. It was a seal he didn't recognize and he was pondering what he should do.

Menma's final though was, 'I can't deal with this right now.' So he began draining the chakra from the seal with his God seal and it burned until it was nothing but ash.

Menma looked up and a mass amount of the trees in front of him faded away and the sun shined down upon a structure that looked like a fortress.

He ran towards the front door and saw a man in strange clothing standing at the door. As Menma got closer to him he realized that he was slightly transparent.

Menma was about to get rid of him but the man took notice of him and looked at him. When Menma saw his face he froze in place.

The man had a glowing golden eye to the right and an eye patch on his missing eye. Menma's own golden eyes involuntarily triggered in response and he stared at him. The man opened his mouth and said, "I'm not surprised things turned out this way, I know you too well I know your story, I know what you're like, I only remember them because of how I loved your story, how I loved what you're like, but It's unsurprising that It's exactly what will undo your puppet strings, you will fall limp to the floor, wishing that at least one of the strings could noose around your wooden stick neck."

Menma finally snapped out of his trance and quickly eliminated the man in front of him. Menma decided to dismiss the riddles and ran inside the building.

Land of Water Orochimaru's Memories

Orochimaru sat still in a meditating position and focused on the field of vision his chakra created and searched for life forms.

After 20 minutes in this state he eventually tracked 4 signatures appearing and disappearing. He smirked and stood up. "I know you 4 are here, come out!"-Orochimaru.

After a minute the 4 of them came out of the woods and walked into the clearing with pouting faces. "How'd you find us?"-Saburo. Orochimaru replied, "I used chakra to spread my field of vision by 50 meters. Within those 50 meters I can track any living thing."-Orochimaru.

Sachi's mouth dropped, "Huh?!?! How are we supposed to beat that?!? That's impossible to get past!"-Sachi. Orochimaru shook his head and responded, "It's not impossible. Ninjas can train themselves to mask their chakra signatures, but it would take a great deal of time for someone to mask it completely. But with your Kekki Genkai it appears that when your in the shadows your presence is completely non existent. You naturally have something that most ninjas wouldn't achieve until 30. So you should be proud."-Orochimaru finished with a smile.

They smiled in response and Orochimaru asked, "So what's it like when you're in that shadow realm anyway?"-Orochimaru.

The question caught them off guard and they all thought about it for a minute until Sen replied, "It's a bizarre experience. Time seems to flow differently in there since people look almost frozen when we look at them through the portal. Also it feels like being in water, you move like you're in water, and you can breath there too. But when you climb out of a portal you're not wet at all."-Sen.

Orochimaru nodded and asked, "Are there other portals inside of this place?"-Orochimaru. Saki answered next, "Yeah, there are many portals as there are shadows in the real world, as long as they're big enough."-Saki.

Orochimaru nodded and asked, "Can't you try to go to one of those other portals?"-Orochimaru?"-Orochimaru. Saburo had a slightly embarrassed look on his face that he tried to hide. "Well, you know how we said it's like water in there?"

Orochimaru and Sachi stated, "Well we don't know how to swim."-Sachi. Orochimaru stayed silent for a moment until he replied, "Well you can breathe when you're in there, so I think you should be able to learn quickly."-Orochimaru.

Sen shook his head and replied, "It's better if we just show you what our swimming looks like."-Sen.

Eastern Hideout 1:05pm.

Menma placed a hand on the ground and activate sage mode. He analyzed his surroundings and determined straight ahead was the best way to go.

He started running and that direction and he ran through a door. The walls changed from normal bricks to prison cells and Menma still carried on. Eventually he ended up stopping because he realized he couldn't go any further. He didn't know why but when he tried to touch the air in front of him it felt like a stone wall. Menma decided he would walk through one of the walls but when he turned around he was left in a state of shock. All of the cells were gone and there was no longer a door at the end of the hallway.

The first thought that came to Menma's mind was that this was a genjutsu and he tried to release it. Somehow it didn't work and Menma was confused. He sensed someone's presence and he turned around. His eyes met with the Hazel eyes of a red haired man in his late 20's with the same hairstyle as Menma, except his bangs hung lower. He wore a black jacket and a white shirt underneath.

Menma became tense and the man put up his hands in defence, "I'm not here to fight you. My name is Nero Uzumaki."-Nero.

Menma became more at ease after hearing the name Uzumaki but he kept his guard up. "That's nice and all, but I have to find Nozomi right now, I don't have time to talk."-Menma.

Nero smiled and replied, "I can see the dark determination in your eyes. You have the eyes of someone who literally will do whatever it takes to achieve your goal... but look at that clock up there." Nero said pointing at a clock.

Menma did what he said and noticed it wasn't moving. Menma looked back at him and said, "The clock is broken, what about it?"-Menma. Mero shook his head and said, "Look closer, pay real close attention to the second hand."-Nero.

Menma sighed but did what he said. He paid close attention to it. He looked at it hard enough to see dust particles around it. And eventually he finally saw what Nero wanted to see. The second hand was moving. But it was moving probably only a micrometer in an actual second of time.

Menma looked back at Nero with a now interested look and Nero said, "I guess you noticed it. Well please don't do anything to the clock, I need to see it for reference."-Nero. "How did you do that?"-Menma.

"Well us Uzumaki's are quite fond of our seals. This one specifically is meant only for small isolated areas like this hallway. It can slow down the pace of time in places like this. It could go even slower than this but that isn't necessary."-Nero. Menma asked, "Can you give me some more details?"-Menma.

Nero cleared his throat and added, "Well I can't tell you much right now, but there are 2 types of sealing techniques in the world. There are the normal ones that are commonly known and used to seal things like scrolls, boxes, and people. Then there are the more powerful seals that were created by the Uzumaki's. These ones are mainly used for fighting and can be a substitute for Genjutsu if you wanna use it on a genjutsu master like an Uchiha. They're a bit harder to do since they require prerequisites to be met to have the desired effect. But once they are met then they can do amazing things. But anyways I should tell you a few things about this place."-Nero.

Nero put on a completely serious face and told Menma, "There are some things that happen here that I'm not comfortable with saying out loud. So you'll have to go to the archive room right here for that. Now as I just said there certain kinds of seals that need prerequisites to activate." Nero said as the environment around him transformed into an archive room.

"The way your eyes work is by bouncing light off of objects. I'm gonna be honest I don't really remember how this one works exactly. It makes it so you can't perceive a certain object/material of choice with your eyes. In this case the material was wood. But if someone wanted to they could do this with metal so you can't perceive a kunai being thrown at you."-Nero.

"That's really powerful."-Menma. Nero snickered and replied, "It's not invincible though, someone can still hear it coming."-Nero. Menma nodded and responded, "Well you can tell me more about them later, right now you should tell me about this place."-Menma.

Nero nodded and Menma started paying close attention to Nero and he started, "The leader of this hideout is a scumbag called Yurusarenai. He's a degenerate that Orochimaru considers his right hand man. I don't know who would voluntarily be with a guy like this but apparently he used to have a wife, and they ended up having a child. It was a boy... about 3 years ago when Orochimaru took over this village he took over the gang here too. They use to be nice enough, they were the ones that liberated the village from the dictator like Daimyo, but with Orochimaru's leadership they quickly became the worst of scum. I guess that really tells you that even if you fight for a good cause that doesn't mean your good huh?"-Nero.

Menma took Nero's words to heart and Nero continued, "Wells anyways among the many scum of the Hagetaka clan one stood out among the others, it was Yurusarenai.

Land Of Water Orochimaru's Memories

For the first time in a very long time Orochimaru found himself holding back his laughter after seeing the 4 brothers horrible attempts at swimming. 'They swim like a bird having a seizure.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru took a deep breath and announced, "With the way you're swimming now it would take me about an entire week of constant training just to train a single one of you how to swim effectively. But I have a theory for a way to train all of you within at most 2 days."-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru caught their full attention and he asked, "Can you bring other people with you into that shadow dimension?"-Orochimaru.

Saburo put his hand on his chin and thought hard. "I don't know, the only things we've tried bringing into were food, so probably."-Saburo.

Orochimaru replied, "Well I want you to take me in there, that's where you'll learn to swim."-Orochimaru.

The 4 thought about the idea and Sachi replied, "That's a great idea! Since everything goes by slower we're technically learning quicker!"-Sachi.

"Are we sure that's safe though?"-Sen. "But if those objects were only safe because they were objects? Wouldn't it hurt someone living?"-Saki. "No, in a science book I saw once it said that things like food and plants are alive, so it should be fine."-Saburo. "So it's decided then, let's go!"-Sachi.

They all got into position near a tree and Sen was halfway inside the shadow of the tree. He held out his hands and Orochimaru accepted them. Orochimaru was surprised by their warmth but ignored it and followed him into the shadow dimension.

When Orochimaru was all the way in the entire area was more black than anything he's seen in his entire life. He couldn't even see his hands in front of him without the light shining through the portal.

Orochimaru realized he was sinking and he swam back up to the 4 brothers who were holding on to the edge of a portal. Orochimaru swam up to them and told them, "It's time to get started."-Orochimaru.

Eastern Hideout 1:06pm.

"Eventually Orochimaru wanted to try out experimenting with things besides sage chakra and he left it up to Yurusarenai to come up with something since he considered him someone who would be indifferent to people's suffering in an experiment... well at this point in time I was already spying on the gang and I was under Yurusarenai's command. He notified us about how he didn't want to be disturbed while experimenting."-Nero.

Nero dropped his usual smile and had a solemn look on his face as he looked down. "Well I was out playing with Yurusarenai's son Kuroko when it happened. It wasn't something that hit me right away, I only figured it out a few days later... while we were playing together his dad took him away and said that we could play again tomorrow... before he was taken away I was planning on getting him out of there that same day. He wasn't abused by his father or anything, but that is a horrible environment to grow up in... but I was too late."-Nero.

Menma noticed a tear fall down his face and he continued, "Well a day later Yurusarenai came back to us and said his experimenting was over, and that it was a success. He managed to create some kind of creature, it had some dog like features but it was the size of a house. He had some people fight it, but they didn't stand a chance. It killed them almost instantly and it ate them right after. It was disgusting to look at and left as soon as possible."-Nero.

Nero checked the time and continued, "I didn't notice it until later that night, but on the dog I noticed that it had green and blue eyes just like Kuroko. I don't really jump to conclusions, but I couldn't sleep after noticing that. So I decided to ask Yurusarenai about it. And do you know what he told me when I asked about his son?"-Nero asked with a depressing smile on his face.

Menma shook his head still not completely sure what the ending to the story would be and Nero answered, "He looked me dead in the eye with a serious look and told me "I used him for the experiment, I thought that was obvious.""-Nero. Menma's eyes widened as what he hoped wouldn't be the case was exactly what happened. Menma's hands involuntarily shook just from the anger that statement caused.

Nero wiped away a tear and continued, "He started talking about how a positive state of mind was preferred for the experiment, but I zoned out. After that day I couldn't continue my job. My disdain for him turned into a deep hatred..." Nero took a deep breath and asked, "So earlier you mentioned someone called Nozomi, who is that?"-Nero.

Menma snapped back to reality and replied, "She's a young Uzumaki that I've sworn to protect with my life. Do you know where she's being kept?"-Menma.

Nero nodded and replied, "She's being kept in the arena. You'll get there if you run further down this hall and take a left. If you want you can search the archives here before you leave."-Nero.

Menma shook his head and stated, "I don't want to waste anymore time, even though time is slowed down I want to get there as fast as possible... will I ever see you again?"-Menma.

Nero smiled and became a little more cheerful. The reason I came to talk to you is because we both have the same goal. I came here to finish the job by taking down this hideout, but since the legendary Kitsune leader is here I don't need to. If you ever wanna find me come to Pokanto Mountain, I'm a fan!" Nero stated as he started walking away. Menma also started walking away in the opposite direction but was stopped when Nero said, "Menma."

Neither of them turned around but Menma stopped walking and listened. Menma couldn't see his face but he sense the anger in his voice as he said, "Don't show that piece of shit any mercy."-Nero. Menma simply replied with, "Of course."

Orochimaru's Memories Land Of Water

"Are you all ready to show me what you've learned?"-Orochimaru. The 4 brothers nodded as they got in ready positions. Orochimaru announced, "Your last mission is to swim against the current of this river. From flag A to flag B. You have 10 minutes. If your feet touch the bottom of the river, you fail. If you start floating, you fail. And if you talk at all during this challenge, then you fail. Do you understand?" They all nodded with determined looks and Orochimaru yelled, "Begin!"

All 4 of the brothers started off with a quick burst of speed that placed them 6 feet away from their starting points. Saburo, Sachi, and Sen were using the freestyle swimming while Saki used the butterfly style. Normally freestyle is the fastest way to swim, but because of Saki's unnaturally strong body each of his strokes let him glide through the water.

Before Orochimaru realized it they already reached the halfway point. Orochimaru started in amazement as he thought, 'Their ability to learn is extraordinary. I thought it would take about 2 days in that world but they managed to put themselves on the same level as a professional athlete in only 6 hours!'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru involuntarily grew a devious grin as he thought, 'You can have Haku, Zabuza. Because I'm the one who struck gold!' Orochimaru felt a tug on his clothes and he came back to reality.

He looked down at the 4 brothers that were drenched in sweat and Saburo asked, "Are all rivers this hard to swim in?"-Saburo. Orochimaru asked, "How old are you 4?" Sachi answered, "We're 12. Why do you ask?" Orochimaru informed them, "You just swam through level 5 Rapids."

They all gawked and Sen asked, "Why would you have us swim in something so hard?!?"-Sen. Orochimaru looked at him as he used a smile to hide his astonishment and he asked, "Do you know what they say about prodigies?"-Orochimaru.

They all shook their heads and Orochimaru answered, "It's believed that among every generation there will be 1 person who stands out among them all that radiates natural talent. They'll stand out in all fields of education and they excel at all training. I'm my generation I was considered that Prodigy, and I ended up as a Sannin. The next prodigy was the 4th Hokage Minato, he could kill platoons of ninja in just a few seconds. Then there was Kakashi Hatake the copy ninja, he created his own A-rank ninjutsu at 12. Then there was Itachi Uchiha he managed to kill his entire clan of elite ninja while he was still a teenager. And I don't know how but it seems like this time there could be 4 extraordinary prodigies. And I believe that you are those 4. I had you swim up this river because I had faith in you all. And I'm sure that I'm right."-Orochimaru.

After Orochimaru finished his speech, he noticed that the 4 brothers were crying and he looked confused. But before he could say anything they all hugged him and Saki said, "You're way to nice Orochimaru! What did we do to deserve you?"-Saki. Orochimaru just stood there awkwardly and patted their heads. Once they released him Saburo asked, "So what should we do next?"-Saburo.

Orochimaru pondered his question in his head. 'What should we do next? I've gained their trust and admiration, and at their age they can be easily influenced... maybe I should start making things more intense.' Orochimaru thought while hiding a mischievous grin.

Orochimaru took a deep breath and replied, "I want you 3 to test your skills in a more public place, tomorrow I want you 3 to bring me apples from a small fruit stand called Izuki's Fruits. Can you do that for me?"-Orochimaru. All 4 of them saluted him and they ran off.

Once they were gone Kabuto walked from behind the bushes and walked towards Orochimaru. "I could tell from your grin what you want me to do." Kabuto said with a grin.

Orochimaru looked back at him maintaining a smile and said, "I'm glad you already know."-Orochimaru.

Eastern Hideout 1:10pm.

Menma raced down the hallway he thought would never end as fast as he could. 'What if I'm too late? Will he turn her into one of those things Nero mentioned? No that's not possible, he said it took a day and it's only been a few hours. I'll save her!'-Menma.

The hope Menma gave himself filled him with a new vigor as he saw a light at the end of the hallway. He sprinted as fast as possible and reached the end of the hall with a hopeful smile. But as soon as he reached the room Nero talked about, he lost his smile.

The sight before him left him with eyes as wide as saucers along with constant tears that streamed down his eyes.

He was inside a huge room surrounded by a stadium that was currently filled by Hagetaka members shouting random numbers as if they were trying to buy her. And then there was Nozomi herself in the middle of the room. She wasn't the same she use to be. Her infamous smile that shined brighter than the sun was gone and she looked depressed. Another addition to her features was 2 years on the top of her head along with a tail peeking out of the gown she wore.

'I was too late.' Menma thought as everything around him turned into black as he gained tunnel vision. All he could see was the girl before him. All of the numbers being shouted out faded away as he started walking down the stairs.

Eventually he arrived right in front of her and his tunnel vision faded. She looked at him and recognized him immediately. She grabbed on to one of his legs and spoke in a feeble voice, "Please, get me out of here Menma, I'm scared."

Hearing her voice washed over Menma with a more bizarre feeling then when he achieved sage mode. He finally snapped out of the state he was in. He knelt down, and he patted her head. "Don't worry Nozomi, I promised that I would protect you no matter what. So just leave it to me." Menma stated as he transported her to the Kamui dimension. 'That's right. I haven't failed, she's still alive.'-Menma.

Menma didn't know it as he stood up, but somewhere far away in a place called Tokyo his other half Kaikaku felt what he felt and looked after Nozomi.

Once Menma stood back up he could hear everyone's voices as they yelled at him for interrupting. The fire returned to Menma's eyes and he produced a killer intent on the same level as Kaikaku as his chakra changed colors from blue to black and red.

'I don't think I've ever been this angry in my life, is this what it feels like? I think I've finally recognized this feeling. I felt it with Minako, and with Temari. This is what it feels like when you want to protect someone no matter what it cost.' Menma thought as his aura flared across the entire room while the stones under his feet were atomized from the pressure.

After his aura shot out no one in the room was shouting anymore, in fact they were trying to run to the nearest exit. But Menma used tso's to cover the exits. "Do you really think that I would let a single one of you leave, after what you've done?"-Menma thought his EMS flared.

Orochimaru's Memories

Orochimaru waited around the corner as he looked at the scene before him. The plan was to have Kabuto sabotage the story by knocking out Izuki. Then he would take his place with a disguise. Kabuto knew the exact time they would arrive and he was on high alert.

Something entered Orochimaru's line of sight and he looked at the source. It was a pair of hands reaching out for the fruits. Kabuto also noticed the hands and quickly got into his role. He pretended to be freaked out by the pair of hands and he quickly pulled Sachi out and threw him into an alleyway.

Kabuto quickly went to Sachi in the alley way and grabbed him again. The other 3 quickly left the shadow dimension and ran after him.

Orochimaru finally left his hiding spot and started walking towards his goal. Once he reached the alleyway he saw Kabuto standing over the 4 defeated brothers. Orochimaru also noticed that Kabuto was breathing heavily, but he decided to ignore it and quickly got into his acting role.

He pretended he was surprised by the sight before him and quickly ran towards the 5 of them. He punched Kabuto and sent him flying away. Kabuto pretended to be scared and ran away.

Orochimaru looked down at the 4 brothers and stated, "I'm not the only person in the world who can sense when something is amiss. That man was someone who noticed you because you were too slow. Not only that, but he was able to defeat the 4 of you in a fight."-Orochimaru.

Saburo got up coughing and replied, "Well then I guess you should teach us how to fight then."-Saburo. Orochimaru nodded and replied, "I intend to. I also intend to teach you sleight of hand techniques so that your sneaking skills can be refined. But just so you know even if you learn how to fight there will be people who are still stronger than you. Which is why you should never hesitate to take a chance when you see one. Even if you have to kill someone."-Orochimaru.

They all froze a bit at the thought of having to kill, but they all nodded and Sachi asked, "Can you teach us as soon as possible?"-Sachi. Orochimaru nodded and replied, "Yes, meet by the river in an hour."-Orochimaru. They all bowed and ran off.

Kabuto walked around the corner of the alley and walked towards Orochimaru. "How strong were they?"-Orochimaru. Kabuto responded, "They weren't too strong. But their natural speed and ability to coordinate with each other caught me off guard."-Kabuto. A grin grew on Orochimaru's as he thought about the endless potential they possessed.

Eastern Hideout 5:00pm.

Menma looked down at the only other person in the room with a grin on his face. His hand approached the face of the kneeling man as his cries increased in volume. Once Menma's hand touched his face the cries stopped and disappeared.

The fire in Menma's eyes faded as he realized he completed his goal. He looked around the room. There were no bodies anywhere, but the blood indicated that there was a massacre here.

Menma took a deep breath and thought, 'Now all I have to do is take care of Yurusarenai. After that I should rest. Everything that's been happening lately has been taking a toll on me.'-Menma.

Menma started running in the direction where he sensed the only remaining chakra signatures in the building. It didn't take long to reach the place. Once he stood before the door he reached for the handle, and as he was reaching for the handle he thought, 'So after this there are only 2 big threats left. There's Orochimaru, and those 3 shadow people. I have yet to meet them, but they are clearly trouble... whatever, I can worry about that later. I have to kill this scumbag for all he's done.'-Menma. Menma pulled all the way down on the handle and jumped into the room with 2 guns in his hands

The Menma's eyes were met with left him speechless, he calculated many possibilities of what he would be met with. But this caught him off guard.

The room looked like a normal bedroom, but in the corner of the room there was a post you would tie horses to that had 2 little boys attached to them with female clothing on. Menma's eyes went to the other side of the room and he met eyes with Yurusarenai who had a third boy in his bed. Menma's loss of focus caused the guns to disappear and his arms fell to his sides. "Wha-... what the hell are you doing?" Menma asked in a weak voice.

Yurusarenai remained silent, and Menma asked again with anger this time, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!"-Menma. Menma noticed that after he yelled the other boys in the room got frightened and he tried to calm himself down. "Don't worry kids, I'll get you out of here. Go hide in the bathroom." Menma stated as he used a shuriken to cut the leashes the boys were attached too. Yurusarenai let the boy next to him go out of fear and all of them ran into the bathroom and closed the door behind them.

Menma put a seal on the room that made it so sound couldn't reach in the room, and he turned towards Yurusarenai with a shocked look stuck on his face. Menma didn't even need to ask, he already knew exactly what was going on. He started walking towards him. "Just what the hell is wrong with you? Not even Orochimaru would do something like this."-Menma.

Menma looked down at the ground and when he looked back up he had a new look in his eyes. It was hard to explain. It reminded Yurusarenai of the kind of look someone gives you when they're for sure gonna kill you. But it went deeper than that. It looked more like his eyes were saying that even in death he would still torture him.

Yurusarenai was about to try to say something to save himself but Menma teleported in front of him and ripped out his jugular. Menma put up a finger to his lips and made a "shhh" sound. While Yurusarenai was bleeding out Menma placed a hand on his forehead as his rinnegan activated, and he ripped his soul out.

Hell

Yurusarenai woke up and he felt like his body was floating somewhere. He saw a light up above and he started floating towards it. He started laughing, but his laughs were cut off when he suddenly appeared in an open field next to a tree with a single candle to light up the area.

He looked around and saw Menma next to the candle with the most devilish look in his eyes. Before he could say anything Menma pointed at Yurusarenai's stomach and he looked down.

Yurusarenai's eyes went wide when he looked down and saw his intestines were outside of his stomach leading to somewhere. He followed his intestines and his eyes met where the other end was nailed to a tree.

Yurusarenai quickly understood that Menma wanted him to walk around the tree until they came all the way out. He started shaking his head but Menma simply said, "Walk." And his body started moving against his will.

Orochimaru's Memories

"Again, I've still only been using my right leg and my left arm. Once again I'll remind you, if you can force me to use one of my other 2 limbs or get one of these bells then you pass." Orochimaru stated. The 4 brothers got up off of the ground huffing and puffing and attacked again. 'This is nostalgic, it reminds me of my bell test.' Orochimaru thought as he grabbed Sachi's kick and tossed him into a tree. After that he dodged a punch by Saki and wheel kicked him away. After that Saburo and Sen tried hitting him from above and below. Orochimaru smirked and shot snakes out of his arm to restrain Saburo while Sen came at him with a jumping hook kick

Orochimaru grabbed his leg but before he could do anything he followed it up with a right punch. Orochimaru caught it but once again before could do anything Sen flipped himself upside down and went for another kick with his remaining leg.

Orochimaru released his hand and blocked the kick. Sen smirked and reached for the bells with one hand while going for a punch to the face with the other. 'This is too high level of an attack coming from someone with such little experience.' Orochimaru thought. He was about to stretch out his left arm to throw away Sen but he felt pain from behind as he realized Saki tackled him.

Sen's hand was millimeters away from grabbing the bells but before he could Orochimaru got serious and grabbed Saki's leg with his left to trip him while using his right hand to punch Sen in the solar plexus to get him off.

After Sen landed on the ground he started coughing and Orochimaru ran over to him, "Are you ok?"-Orochimaru. Sen recovered from his coughing and started laughing. Orochimaru felt confused and Sen responded, "We made you use your right arm!"-Sen. Orochimaru looked at his arm and realized they were right. He smiled and said, "Let's go eat."-Orochimaru.

As they started walking towards a restaurant Orochimaru thought, 'You all seem to excel in your own unique way. Saburo has the most intelligence, Sachi has the most speed and is the best at stealth, Sen has the most talent when it comes to combat, and Saki is strongest in every physical sense. You 4 might end up being stronger than Madara Uchiha.'-Orochimaru.

Eastern Hideout 6:00pm.

Menma teleported back to the real world with a bitter look on his face. As he was walking to the bathroom to see the kids he started thinking, 'I really need to get some rest to cool down. So much has happened in such a small amount of time... Kurama... Naruto... Temari... I wish you guys were still here. I really don't want to continue this.'-Menma.

Menma placed his hand on the handle and opened the door. Once he opened the door tears formed in his eyes before he fully comprehended what was before him. 'Oh... I see.'-Menma.

Menma's legs felt like jelly and he croubled right onto the floor. More tears started welling up in his eyes and he crawled towards one of the boys and held his cold hand. "The fear got to you 3. You thought I would have died and that he would have punished you." Menma stated in a weak voice as saw the bloody razor's in their hands.

Menma tried to heal them, but he already knew they were dead. He started feeling overwhelmed and his eyes overflowed with tears as he yelled out, "IM STILL A FAILURE!!!"


	23. A Change Of Heart

Eastern Hideout 8:30pm.

Menma made a silent prayer for the 3 children that laid dead before him and he stood up. He had a bitter look on his face and his eyes showed remnants of despair. He placed a hand on the boys one at a time and transported them to the Kamui dimension with the intention of returning them to their families.

Menma sensed an abnormality in the air behind him and glanced over his shoulder to find Kaikaku holding Nozomi. Something that Menma noticed was that the sclera of Kaikaku's eyes were white now, but Menma decided not to concern himself with it. A smile grew on Menma's face and his expression lightened up.

Kaikaku released Nozomi and she ran to Menma. Menma stretched out his arms and enveloped her in a hug. For the first time ever Menma shed a tear of joy and he stated, "I finally got you back!"-Menma.

She was also crying and she replied, "After he finished experimenting on me I thought I wouldn't see you again!"-Nozomi. "Of course I'd see you again, I told you I'd protect you no matter what."-Menma.

They released each other and Nozomi held her tail in her hand. She started crying again and she said, "He turned me into some kind of monster!"-Nozomi.

Menma grew a serious expression and grabbed one of her shoulders, "You aren't a monster Nozomi. Your appearance doesn't matter. The monster here is Yurusarenai for what he did to you... besides, in my opinion I think you look cute." Menma stated as he gave her a head pat.

Nozomi smiled and Menma pulled his hand back. Menma noticed a disappointed look on Nozomi's face and he asked, "Is something wrong?"-Menma. Nozomi blushed and asked, "Can you pat me more?"

Menma blushed and said, "Of course." As he placed a hand back on her head. Kaikaku laughed in the background and stated, "I think I'm gonna head back to Tokyo now."-Kaikaku. "What's it like over there anyway?"-Menma. Kaikaku pondered for a minute and responded, "It's pretty advanced compared to this place. But I've had some friends at a coffee shop help me out. They have mistaken me for one of them the first time I met them because of the way my eyes use to look."-Kaikaku said in a humorous tone.

Menma laughed a little in response and Kaikaku turned around. Once Menma couldn't see his face anymore Kaikaku frowned. 'Menma, earlier I was looking at you through the view of the Kamui dimension. I can tell by the look you had in your eye you really would have done anything to save her. Even if you had to bring a meteor down on this whole village, you would have done it without giving a second thought.' Kaikaku glanced back at Menma before slowly disappearing. 'I can sense a darkness growing in you. What's going on?'-Kaikaku.

Land Of Water Orochimaru's Memories

"So what do you 4 want to eat?"-Orochimaru asked peering in their direction. The 4 of them were currently marvelling at all of the options on the menu. "Can we really get whatever we want?"-Saburo. Orochimaru nodded and they all had huge smiles on their faces as the waiter approached.

Orochimaru's saw their lips move but everything was inaudible as he started thinking, 'Based off of everything that's happened it's already guaranteed that they'll follow me around but I need to find a golden opportunity to expose them to their first kill.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru his arm under the table and made snakes crawl from under the table. 'I'll have these snakes search for some kind of bounty. Killing the immoral will be a good start.'-Orochimaru.

Pretty soon after Orochimaru sent out snakes their food came out. When Orochimaru looked at the food as the waiter set it on the table, his eyes widened slightly. 'They ordered all of that?'-Orochimaru.

The amount of food on the table looked like it could feed a man for a whole week. There was a collection of meats and other things in front of him. There was chicken, salmon, mashed potatoes, corn, and even more.

Orochimaru finished marveling at the amount of food on the table and looked at the 4 brothers and noticed that they were crying. Orochimaru slightly panicked and asked, "Is there something wrong?"-Orochimaru.

Sen wiped away his tears and replied, "No nothing's wrong. We just never thought we'd ever get to eat like this."-Sen. It was in that moment that Orochimaru realized that he was looking at tears of joy and not sadness.

'Huh? What could they be talking about? What do they mean they'd never get to eat like this?' Orochimaru noticed he was tensed up and relaxed, 'I can just ask them later.'

10 Minutes Later

As each minute passed the food on the table became smaller and smaller. Orochimaru and even some other people in the restaurant decided to entertain themselves by watching them eat.

But inevitably it was gonna come to an end and the only thing left on the table was a single piece of salmon. All 4 of the brothers noticed this and gained an expression that looked like Stardust Crusaders level intensity.

Orochimaru started paying serious attention to what he predicted would happen. Everyone in the store including the workers stopped what they were doing and started attention to the inevitable battle. It all started in a flash.

Saburo was the first to dart for it. 'Sachi is the fastest among us, if I start off first and blitz for it then I should w'- Saburo's thoughts were cut off when he noticed he was intercepted by Sachi. "Nani?"-Saburo. Sachi chuckled and responded, "My fighting speed isn't the only thing quick about me. My reflexes are even better."-Sachi.

While the 2 were talking to each other Sen tried to sneak past the 2 and reach the salmon. But before he could grasp the piece of meat in between his chopsticks he was cut off by Saki who blocked him.

"I knew you would try to do that Sen, that's why I waited for this opportunity."-Saki. Sen tried to push away his chopsticks so he could reach the meat, but Saki's superior strength stopped him. Sen quickly grew a grin on his face and he started giggling. Saki frowned and asked, "What's so funny?"-Saki. Sen looked him straight in the eye and replied, "You may be stronger than me physically. But I'm still faster!"

After saying that Sen quickly withdrew his chopsticks. This caused Saki's arm to go into Saburo and Sachi. Sen took this opportunity to reach for the salmon. But before he could reach for it Sachi quickly used all of his speed to reach for the salmon. "At this rate, I won't be able to grab the salmon, but I'm still gonna get it away from you Sen!"-Sachi.

Sachi's chopsticks made contact with the salmon and he quickly threw it off of the plate. After Sachi's action all 4 of them chased after the salmon at high speeds. Orochimaru looked on with a surprised expression on his face and thought, 'This is a great way to train them in precision, speed, and reaction time. They're all doing 3 things at once. They're all blocking each other from reaching the salmon while keeping it from falling on the ground and trying to obtain it at the same time. Every once in a while one of them are able to get a decent touch on the salmon, but this only causes it to fly away, causing them to chase after it again.They're already on the level of a low tier Jonin.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru started paying closer attention to the battle at hand and noticed something. 'Everytime they're able to touch the piece of salmon it starts getting smaller because of the force the strikes of their chopsticks cause. They're all too focused on what they're doing to notice this though. At this rate none of them will be able to eat it.'-Orochimaru.

After a few seconds Saburo's facial expression changed and he stopped trying to grab the salmon. Everyone in the store wondered what he was thinking at that moment.

Saburo got into a fighting stance that favored evasiveness and his hands were pointed like snakes. Orochimaru was also curious about what he planned on doing.

'Although I'm by no means weak, I'm not as physically gifted in specific areas like the other 3. I'm not abnormally strong like Saki, extremely fast like Sachi, or as adept at fighting as Sen, but I'm most likely the most intelligent here. And at this rate none of us will eat the salmon, so I'm just gonna cut off a piece of it with chopsticks before it's too late.'-Saburo.

It all happened in one quick motion. Saburo dived under the group. This drew the attention of the other 3 away. But before he went all the way under them he quickly withdrew and jumped over the group and in one quick motion he cut off a 4th of the salmon with the chopsticks and ate it.

This stunned everyone in the shop, including Orochimaru. "I think I've seen something like that in a Basketball game before. This involves misdirection, but since there was only one of him he did everything in perfect posture and form to trick everyone into thinking he would no doubt dive below them. Then using all the speed he could he backed up and jumped over the group while he they were still focusing on the ground. Kind of like a mirage, he took advantage of their focus on the salmon and diverted just enough of it to the ground so that he could strike from above.' Orochimaru couldn't contain his smile and thought, 'If I ever send you 4 on a mission Saburo will definitely be the leader.'-Orochimaru.

Eastern Hideout Nighttime

Menma walked outside holding Nozomi's hand and he looked back at the building behind him. He lit a small Amaterasu flame and turned around.

While walking through the forest Nozomi stopped walking. Menma also stopped and looked back at her. "What's wrong?"-Menma. Nozomi looked down at her feet and Menma did the same. He noticed she didn't have any shoes on.

Menma almost panicked but before he could she asked, "Can you carry me home?"-Nozomi. Menma was caught off guard by her question and was silent. Menma noticed the embarrassed look on her face and came back to his senses. "Of course."-Menma.

She smiled in response and Menma picked her up and carried her bridal style. She nuzzled into his chest and Menma blushed. 'Was she always this cute.'-Menma.

Eventually they were out of the forest. Menma was about to ask her if she wanted to walk but he realized she was already sleeping. Menma remained silent and continued walking down the street.

Once Menma was halfway there he started to feel uneasy. He eventually stopped walking after he heard footsteps behind him. He glanced over his shoulders and glared at the 3 shadowy figures behind him. "Saburo, Sachi, and Sen."-Menma.

Orochimaru's Memories

The group of 5 walked down the street and a snake crawled towards Orochimaru with a poster in it's mouth. Orochimaru took the poster and smiled at what he saw. 'A group of 5 rapists and murderers. This is perfect.'-Orochimaru.

The 4 brothers noticed Orochimaru stopped walking and they walked towards him. "After everything I've taught you 4 I think it's time you actually go on a mission."-Orochimaru stated handing Saburo the bounty.

They all had serious yet worried expressions on their faces and Saburo asked, "Is there anything we should know before starting this mission?"-Saburo. Orochimaru nodded and replied, "Only 2 things. First is that I'm not going to help you at all. And second, is that I'm making Saburo the leader."-Orochimaru.

They all had slight shock on their faces and Saburo asked, "Why are you making me leader?"-Saburo. Orochimaru replied, "Based off of what I saw earlier with the salmon I can tell you're perfect for this role. You have shown the most intelligence, and you've shown that you have the ability to maintain a clear head even under pressure. And most importantly, you've shown restraint. You know when to pull out when a situation isn't going to lead to your success. Those thinking skills can save your lives one day."-Orochimaru.

Saburo had a smile plastered on his face and he responded, "I won't disappoint you." He bowed and they all left.

Menma

You've destroyed way too much of what Orochimaru created. We've come here to eliminate you."-Saburo. Menma remained silent for a few seconds responded, "Very well, but before that I'm going to put Nozomi in bed."-Menma.

Sachi stepped forward and replied, "Huh? What are you talking about? We've come here to"- Sachi was cut off by the sudden aura that Menma emitted. Menma glanced back at them with an indifferent look in his eye and stated, "I'm going to put her in bed first."-Menma.

There was something special about the aura Menma radiated, it wasn't evil, and it didn't contain malice. But it still felt overwhelming. It was like being given an order from a superior being. Sachi backed down and replied, "Fine."-Sachi.

Menma faced forward once again and he started walking away. Menma noticed Nozomi woke up and she yawned. "Did something happen?"-Nozomi. Menma shook his head and replied, "No, nothing's happened. You can go back to sleep."

Nozomi nodded and closed her eyes again.

Orochimaru's Memories

Orochimaru looked on at the battle proceeding down below. 'Hmm. I never taught them how to stealthily take someone down, so it makes sense that this ended up being a full on battle. Judging by how they're fighting I can tell that that group use to be Jonin's, but I have no doubt Saburo and the others will prevail... well Saburo might have some trouble though. The enemy he's facing is on an ANBU's level.'-Orochimaru.

'Damn it Sachi, why are you always so rash? You should have listened to the plan."-Saburo. Saburo looked over at everyone else to see how they were doing.

Sachi was having too much fun messing with his enemy, he was dodging everything and he hasn't went for a strike yet. Sen has already beaten his enemy, he keeps on getting up but he won't beat Sen. And Saki has knocked his enemy unconscious.

Saburo felt a sudden pain in his shoulder and looked back towards his enemy. He noticed that a knife was penetrating through his shoulder. It took a minute for all of the pain to set in but once it did he let out a blood curdling scream and thought, 'Damn it, I should have been paying more attention.'-Saburo.

All 3 of the other brothers heard Saburo's screams and reacted to it instantly. Sachi close lined him at a breakneck speed and Saki used a haymaker on him and sent him flying into a tree.

Sen carefully removed the knife from Saburo's shoulder and Orochimaruran towards them and asked, "Are you ok?"-Orochimaru. Saburo nodded and replied, "Yes, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention."-Saburo. Orochimaru made a sigh of relief.

It took a minute for what just transpired to register for Orochimaru. But once it did he thought, 'What the hell? When did this start happening? Since when did I feel distress and relief for these kids? Am I making myself become too attached?'-Orochimaru.

"Hey guys."-Sachi. The other 3 brothers looked in his direction and Sachi stated, "The guy Saki punched isn't breathing."

Menma

Menma laid down Nozomi's body onto her bed and kissed her forehead. He turned around and started heading out the door. "Hey Menma?"-Nozomi. Menma turned around and asked, "Did you need something?"-Menma. "Can you stay here?"-Nozomi. Menma smiled and replied, "Sorry, but not tonight."-Menma.

Nozomi nodded and went back to sleep. Menma walked outside and looked up at the stars in the sky. He felt something hit his eyes and he wiped it off. Once he opened them again, he noticed that it was snowing. 'It's pretty unusual for it to snow in the middle of October.' Menma sighed. 'Unfortunately I don't have time to enjoy the snow right now.' Menma's mind drifted to thoughts of playing in the snow with everyone else.

Menma clenched his fist with a smile on his face and he thought, 'That's a future I'm willing to fight for.' As he started heading back to meet Saburo Sachi and Sen.

'I can tell just by looking at them that they're much different than the usual enemies I fight. The only things I know about them come from my experience with Saki and what Karin told me. So I'm gonna have to come up with some kind of plan on how I'm gonna do this.'-Menma.

Orochimaru's Memories

"Do you understand now?" Orochimaru asked, placing a hand on Saki's shoulder. Saki wiped away a tear from his eye and replied with a nod.

Orochimaru smiled and responded, "Well Saburo, I should take care of your wound."-Orochimaru. Orochimaru started walking towards Saburo, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw his shoulder. There was something that was vantablack and flat in the shape of a hand covering what used to be his wound.

"Saburo, what is that?"-Orochimaru. Saburo used a mirror and looked at his shoulder. He freaked out a little and it disappeared. Orochimaru peered at where the shadow on his shoulder use to be and he thought, "Did he accidentally end up covering up part of his body with some kind of shadow made of chakra?'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru started working on taking care of Saburo's shoulder, but his mind drifted somewhere else. 'Their potential use to excite me, but now I'm starting to feel a bit frightened by how fast they're developing. I might have to stop them from training at some point.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru eventually finished up on Saburo's shoulder and a thought popped into his mind. "So what were you kids doing before you met me anyway? Don't you have parents?"-Orochimaru. After hearing the question the 4 brothers looked up at Orochimaru and Sachi asked, "What are parents?"

For what felt like an hour everything was silent. It took a while for his answer to sink into Orochimaru's mind, but once it did, he started to think of how he could respond. 'How do they not know what parents are? How should I even answer this?'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was about to answer but then he realized something. 'What are parents? I don't even know what parents are...'-Orochimaru.

Something suddenly clicked in Orochimaru's mind. This realization almost made a tear form in his eye. 'How long has it been since I've thought of my own parents? I've kept my memories of them hidden away for decades now.'-Orochimaru.

"Parents are... people that watch over you. It's an adult that cares for children like you. There's usually a mom and a dad, a guy would be considered a dad. And uhh... both of them love and care for you deeply, they'll take care of you when you're ill, they'll speak up for you when no one else will, and they'll take care of you for as long as you need until you're able to take care of yourself. They don't have to be blood related, just someone that does all of these things."-Orochimaru.

The 4 of them remained silent the entire time and paid attention to every single word he said, and once he was done explaining Saburo asked, "So would you be our dad then?"-Saburo.

Once again Orochimaru didn't know how to respond. He started thinking about all the time they've spent together this past week and he concluded that, 'Yes, with the way I've been acting that's exactly what it seems like. But that's not what I'm trying to achieve here.' "No, I wouldn't say that."-Orochimaru.

After his response they all had a little frown on their faces. "You don't really like us?"-Sachi. After seeing this Orochimaru felt something in his chest and he grasped it. At the moment Orochimaru felt intense confusion. 'What the hell is this feeling? It's like some form of guilt. Do I feel bad for them?'-Orochimaru.

Some memories of his own father popped up in his mind and he thought about how he could do better. 'Is the way they feel right now the way Anko felt back then? Wait, why am I asking myself these questions?'-Orochimaru.

In that moment Orochimaru did something that he never would have before with anyone else, he apologized. "I take back what I said, of course I like you guys. But you shouldn't assign that role to someone you've only known for a couple weeks."-Orochimaru.

After what he said they all felt better, but Orochimaru was panicking in his head. 'If this happened only twice then I would have called it a fluke, but these feelings are coming out constantly. I can dismiss this no longer.'-Orochimaru.

An interesting question popped into Orochimaru's mind. "How were you 4 surviving before I met you? You're all about 12 and must have been in some place where you were taken care of."-Orochimaru.

Saburo replied with a straight face, "We were at a child farm with other kids for most of our lives. We haven't lived that long, but I doubt we'll ever experience anything worse than being at that place. Everyday you would wake up to the same words every day that said "there was no free will." Throughout the day you would go through hard rigorous labor. Every once in awhile he would take us to the edge of the farm to show us the rabid dogs that he kept to remind us what would happen if we tried to escape."-Saburo.

Orochimaru remained silent for a while and he felt something building up inside him. "How did you survive in there?"-Orochimaru. This time Sachi spoke. "Well we got 3 meals a day. The food looked good, everyday we would be lined up to get our food. We would look at him through a small gap in a door and we would see a man with a mask that would pour something brown that looked like cinnamon into our food. It would seem like all is well, until you see a couple of kids around you turn blue and fall onto the floor. We only ate around the edges of the food and we mainly ate bugs and scraps in the trash we found for nutrition."-Sachi.

Orochimaru thought, 'That must be why they cried when they saw all that food earlier. Orochimaru's head lowered slightly and Saki noticed it and interpreted it as sadness. He stated, "Well it wasn't all bad. The one thing that was safe was nighttime. When it was night there was nothing that could poison us, threaten us, or hurt us. The darkness was our friend"-Saki.

Orochimaru looked him dead in the eye and saw that he was smiling. 'It's amazing they can still smile after all of that.' Another question popped up in Orochimaru's mind and he asked, "How did you manage to get out?"-Orochimaru. They all hesitated for a second, and Sen said, "That's not"-"Tell me."-Orochimaru.

Sen answered his question. "One day we were all getting ready for dinner like usual. Except something was different. When he was making our food he wasn't hidden behind the door, he was in the middle of the cafeteria. We watched him make the food with amazement, and the entire time he never poured the brown cinnamon like substance into the food. He made something he called chocolate chip cookies. One person ate a cookie, and after we realized he didn't fall over dead almost all of us got a cookie. The only reason we didn't eat the cookie is because Saki got swollen after he ate it. So we didn't wanna see what would happen when we ate it."-Sen.

Orochimaru thought about what they said and thought, 'Saki must be allergic to chocolate.'-Orochimaru. Sen stopped talking as a hollow look fell onto his face. Saburo continued where he left off and said, "After that we all went to bed. And when we woke up for some reason everything was still dark. We also noticed it was extremely hot. After being in the dark so much our eyes adjusted and we saw all of the other kids laying around us. They weren't dead, but when we tried to shake them they wouldn't wake up... we sat there for awhile, until eventually we couldn't stand the heat anymore, so we started clawing at the walls of the metal box we were in until eventually we started feeling like we were floating. We went inside a shadow and that's how we discovered our Kekkei Genkai... we were there for a long time, and when we came out all of the other kids were ash. After that we left and never came back."-Saburo.

After this nothing was said for a long time. That was until Orochimaru slowly opened his mouth and got ready to speak.

"Why would he do that?"-Orochimaru. Saburo shook his head and replied, "We never found out."-Saburo.

'Don't say it.' "Where is this place?"-Orochimaru. They all looked at him with a look of slight curiosity. 'Why am I asking this?' Sachi started opening his mouth. 'Please don't answer my question.'-Orochimaru. "It's at the west end of the island. Why do you ask?"-Sachi. 'Please don't say anything.'-Orochimaru. "I plan on finding out why all of that happened."-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's words and mind were saying 2 different things. But it was like his body was saying these things automatically, he couldn't control his words. After the conversation they just had all of Orochimaru's denial disappeared and was replaced by acceptance. 'I'll come face to face with this man, the way I'll feel when I meet him will determine how I truly feel.'-Orochimaru.

Saburo Sachi And Sen

It completely silent and the 3 brothers were currently waiting for Menma to come back. While they were waiting Sen asked, "Do you think that we should try to talk to him?"-Sen. Sachi looked at him confused and asked, "What do you mean talk to him?"

"Father hasn't been the same since he met that old guy Odin, he's been... colder. We can't even call him dad in his presence anymore! Maybe he could help us make him normal again, ever since he's started destroying the hideouts Orochimaru has been more like his usual self... before he met Odin he was coming close to ending his ways of gaining knowledge."-Sen.

Saburo paid close attention to everything he said and sighed. "Sen, I understand where you're coming from, and I wish we could do that too. But pay close attention to him the next time you see him. I can sense malicious aura radiating off of him that isn't meant for us. I'm sure that he wants nothing more than to kill Orochimaru. Our first objective is protecting father before anything else."-Saburo. Sen looked down at the ground and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Orochimaru's Final Memories

Orochimaru pushed open a gate and walked into a field full of weeds. He followed the walkway towards the main house. But before he could make it all the way to the door he saw the door open with a man standing behind it.

The man was short and looked like a stereotypical middle aged man. Orochimaru walked up to him and before he could say anything Orochimaru stated, "A few years ago you ran a child farm here. I want you to tell me why you killed all of the kids."-Orochimaru.

At first the man just stood there in shock and didn't say anything. Eventually Orochimaru got annoyed and threatened him with a snake. The man snapped back to reality and asked, "How do you know about that?"

Orochimaru made the snake move up closer to him and he responded with, "I might tell you later, but remember that I'm the one asking questions."-Orochimaru.

The man gulped and replied, "Ok, but come in and sit down first. Orochimaru complied with his request and came in and sat down. Once they were both sitting he started speaking. "I was a pawn in a big plan that someone else created. I was never told much and I was only given the orders breed superior children. They said make sure they don't leave, make sure they do labor work at least a few hours a day, only feed them certain food... and always put this weird brown powder in their food."

A tear fell from the man's eye and Orochimaru felt slightly confused. 'This... is not what I expected. I expected a cold hearted man with little to no remorse, but it sounds almost like he was manipulated.'-Orochimaru. The man wiped away the tear and continued, "I wasn't the only one that worked here. At first I considered the labor inhumane and I didn't want them doing so much, but they didn't like that. They sent someone down here that started taking care of certain duties like feeding them and making sure they did work. Eventually I got word that the leader of this big project was killed by Leaf ninja. I viewed that as an opportunity to let the kids escape. I knew that they wouldn't trust me so I gave them cookies with a poison that would only knock them out. I had a truck that I was going to take them away with and I had to pick it up from its hiding place in the woods... and in that short time I was away they had somehow disappeared from the farm. I looked around for them for a couple days but I never found any of them. I don't know what happened to them, but I fear that they are dead."

For what felt like the longest time all was silent. Both people were deep in thought about what they should be thinking. Orochimaru was more shocked than the man could imagine, and his face showed it. 'Both sides of the story say very different things, yet both of them are right. The only thing those 3 kids were missing was the fact that there were 2 people.'-Orochimaru. Orochimaru got over his shock and looked up at him. "Not all of them are dead."

It took a minute. The man didn't realize what he said at first, but when he did he shot up out of his chair. "REALLY?!?" Orochimaru nodded his head and stated, "I have 4 of the children with me. Their names are Saburo, Sachi, Sen, and Saki. They told me that they woke up in a giant furnace. They tried to wake up the others but... they couldn't, because the poison made them stay asleep."-Orochimaru.

After hearing this the man instantly broke down in front of Orochimaru. The crying man asked to no one in particular, "So it's my fault then?" Orochimaru remained silent. Eventually the man stopped crying and he asked Orochimaru, "What do you think of me?"

The question caught him off guard at first. Orochimaru started to think about how he felt. And he started laughing. It wasn't evil, but it wasn't very kind hearted either. It was the kind of laugh you'd make after understanding a joke.

Orochimaru eventually stopped laughing and thought, 'To find out how I would feel, this is why I came here.' Orochimaru lost his smile and looked at the man, "I feel pure resentment towards you for being such a coward. I want to kill you right where you stand."-Orochimaru.

The man nodded and stated, "If you want to kill me then I won't stop you, I am a huge coward for not stopping things before it got out of hand. I am content with dying knowing that at least some of those kids made it out."

Orochimaru stood up and pulled out a sword, "I'm glad you won't resist. But before he could do anything he heard a door open up. He saw a small boy walk out rubbing his eyes. The boy spotted both of them and asked ,"Dad? What's going on?"

Orochimaru felt chills all over his body and he thought, 'Dad?'-Orochimaru. The man looked at Orochimaru and pleaded, "You can do whatever you want with me, but leave my son out of this!"

Orochimaru tried to ignore the boy and thought, 'Just focus on him. His cowardice is the reason those 4 boys had it so rough. I need to get this anger off my chest.'-Orochimaru.

Orochimaru lifted his sword but before he could bring it down on him the boy stood in front of his father with his arms spread out. "I won't let you hurt dad!"

A conflicted look appeared on Orochimaru's face. He heard footsteps to his right and saw the mother at the end of the hallway. "Honey, who is this man?"

Orochimaru bit his lip and thought, 'Ignore it. Why the hell am I hesitating?'-Orochimaru. Orochimaru gripped his sword and aimed to kill the man but before he could the mother ran in front of him and hugged them to protect them. "I won't let you hurt them!!!"

This was the last straw for Orochimaru. The stopped moving where he stood because the scene in front of him reminded him of his own mom. A mom protecting her loved ones from an abusive man. Orochimaru took a deep breath and dropped the sword. "I give up. Do you have records of the kids here?"-Orochimaru.

They all remained silent for a while. Orochimaru's words eventually sunk in and the man replied, "Oh, y-yeah." He stood up and walked towards a drawer and opened it. He handed them to Orochimaru and he searched through them.

5 Minutes Later

The atmosphere was no longer tense and Orochimaru apologized and explained small parts of the situation to avoid them thinking less of the man of the house. While reading through the documents Orochimaru found that the quadruplets were gonna have a birthday soon.

He walked up to the man of the house and asked with an embarrassed tone of voice, "Do you... know anything about celebrating Birthdays?"-Orochimaru.


	24. Salvation And Future

As the shadow trio came into view of Menma he started shaking a little. 'The last time I've fought anyone with skill was Kimimaro... is Kimimaro dead? If he is then how long did it take him to die? Ugh, I have to focus on the problem at hand.'-Menma.

Menma looked down at his shaking hand and thought, 'Am I shaking from excitement, or is this just fear?'-Menma.

Menma got closer to them but they still didn't notice his presence. Menma froze in place and couldn't move any further. 'Well actually the last one I've fought with skill was Deidara, but that was more of an in the moment kind of thing to save Gaara. I'm actively walking towards these people, and I can't shake the feeling that I'm walking towards my own death.' Menma wiped the cold sweat off his face and bit his lip. He remained completely still for a few seconds and reopened his eyes to reveal his 6 paths sage mode.

His hands finally stopped shaking and he thought, 'Is this really how I feel around strong opponents? When I confront Odin, a literal God. Are my legs just gonna turn to jelly and collapse?' Menma clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. 'NO! This is what I trained for!' Menma smirked, 'Adonai was right when he said I'd die if I had fought them back then. But at least now I know their weaknesses. I just have to accept that, not every battle will be a guaranteed win. All I can do is have hope and confidence in my own abilities.'-Menma.

Menma put up the shadow clone hand sign. 'This was Naruto's signature jutsu. I only ever really used this when I trained.' Suddenly several clones appeared and Menma nodded at them. The clones jumped in between the buildings and disappeared out of view. I've had about 5 minutes of prep time to prepare for this, I hope that's enough.' The 3 of them finally noticed Menma and he said, "Hey."

The distraction didn't need to be complicated, in fact it was extremely simple. In the small fraction of time Menma had their complete undivided attention his attack had already commenced. 'This is a test. I need to test what weapons will work on them, it's most likely the tso weapons, but I need to be sure.'-Menma.

Out of the 3 clones only 1 of them had a sage blade and it came down on Sachi. The normal weapons used on Saburo and Sen went right through them and the clones were eliminated, but the sage blade made contact on Sachi and drew blood off of Sachi's neck. But as soon as Sachi felt the loss of blood he dove forward and kicked behind him, exterminating the clone.

Sachi glared at Menma and stated, "That was dirty."-Sachi. Menma replied with there is no dirty in a battle of survival." Sachi stood up and said, "You know what? You're right."

The confidence in Sachi's voice worried Menma and he realized Saburo and Sen weren't in front of him anymore, but before he could put up his guard he felt a searing pain in his back and he was sent flying.

Tears came out of his eyes from how painful it felt. 'Damn it! How did I not notice them disappear? Also what the hell was I hit with?'-Menma. Menma tried to stand up, but as soon as he stood up his back gave out and he collapsed again. He heard footsteps coming from behind and asked the owner of them, "What did you do just now?"

Sen responded, we aren't average ninjas, we cut you in a specific place in your spinal cord to make you collapse using these blades that scrape away anything they touch." Saburo hit Sen over the head and asked, "Why would you tell him that?!" Sen defended himself by saying, "Well for someone that wears the cloak of the sage of 6 paths he doesn't seem that strong."

Menma's eyes widened slightly and he slapped his head in realization. His Angel's Blessing kicked in and healed his back wounds. The trio looked at Menma as he slowly stood up. 'That's right, I have the same power as the sage of the 6 paths. I can use yin yang release, I've mainly been using it for fun stuff like food, but I've never really applied it to battle. I planned on using it on the way here, but I forgot about it in the heat of battle.'

Menma stared at the 3 of them and they stared back in silence. Menma flashed them a smile, but before they could react in any way Menma started running away. They were caught off guard by the action at first but they quickly started chasing after him.

Menma ran around a couple streets. First block 2009 and the corner of block 2008, he ran this path 3 times and eventually ended up running into a store and hiding in a corner. While he was in the corner he grabbed something off the shelves and stashed it away. The shadow brothers ran into the store after him and searched for him. Menma looked for a light switch and eventually found one. He turned on the lights and they all spotted him. Menma charged towards them mixing the normal sharingan with sage mode. They just stood there.

Menma prepared a fist and threw it at Sachi. They weren't expecting the attack to land. And once his hand passed through him he would be impaled on all sides, killing him instantly. As Menma's fist was inches from Sachi's face he thought, 'I don't want them to notice anything, so as soon as I'm within a 10th of an inch in distance I'll transform the tso bracelet into brass knuckles.'

Menma's objective was successful and his fist smashed into Sachi's face and he was sent flying through a window. 'ALRIGHT! Hopefully I can kill him right away!' Menma dashed past the other 2 brothers before they could react and he jumped out of the window. Menma turned his brass knuckles into a sage blade and he was getting ready to impale Sachi, but before he could Sachi faded away into the shadow Menma cast on him.

Menma stopped mid stab, but he didn't have any time to be surprised. 'Stupid! I got too excited and forgot about their shadow ability.' Menma noticed a knife he was heading right towards that was poking out of his shadow on the ground. Menma grabbed the sides of the blade and used it as a pivot to roll out of the way.

Menma jumped back inside the store and noticed the other 2 brothers were still inside. Saburo looked at Sen and told him, "Go check on Sachi." Sen nodded and disappeared. Menma started fighting Saburo. While they were fighting Saburo thought, 'How is he able to touch us? Is it a sharingan ability? No that wouldn't make sense. He must be hiding something in his sleeves.'

As they continued to fight Saburo pulled out his sword in the middle of a punch and started slashing that. In a panic Menma made a tso wall and backed up. Saburo decided to test out the wall and put a hand against it. He noticed that the part of his chakra cloak on his hand disappeared and he quickly withdrew it. Saburo stared at his hand as the cloak recovered it and he said, "I understand now, so you can produce some kind of chakra leeching object that negates our shadow cloak."

Menma frowned slightly and responded, "I would have preferred to keep that a secret a bit longer, but yes." 30 clones showed up and attacked Saburo from behind while they were talking, but Saburo expected this and started fighting all of them. Each time he knocked out one of the clones he used a different move that impressed Menma. 'He doesn't waste a single movement, every single attack is aimed to kill in 1 hit. He's better than me at Taijutsu, I couldn't handle 2, let alone 3 of them attacking me at the same time. It's a blessing Sen went to check on Sachi.'

The remaining 8 clones brought out sage blades and started to pressure him. Saburo started backing into a wall and before he could suffer any damage he closed the door on himself and disappeared.

He reappeared 2 meters away and quickly eliminated the rest of the clones. Menma grunted and thought, 'With any other opponent you can usually corner them and that will give you a better chance of winning, but he gains an advantage by being cornered since he can just disappear into a shadow, I'll have to go with my backup plan.

Saburo started walking towards Menma and Menma asked him, "Why do you 3 side with Orochimaru? Your chakra tells me you don't hold much malice towards me unlike some of the others I've come across." Saburo stopped walking and stared at him. "You don't know Orochimaru like we do, he isn't as bad as you think he is. But he's different now... he's changed ever since that Od"- Menma scoffed and shouted, "Different than I think he is?!? Do you have any idea what that monster did to me?!? He's the reason why I'm like this now!!"

Saburo remained silent for a moment. He clenched his fist and responded, "I know what he did. And me and both of my brothers know exactly why it happened. That's why we swore we would take down the man who corrupted our father."

Menma's only response was a slightly disgusted face after he spouted the word father. Saburo noticed this and sighed and stated, "It looks like you're too far gone to have your mind changed about him. So I'll have to stop you."

Both of them got into a battle ready position. Menma surrounded his hands with tso's and charged at Saburo. As they started going at it Menma had a reluctant look on his face. 'This is going to be a really disgusting way to use yin yang release. I just gotta remember not to swallow.' Menma thought as he started replacing his saliva with oil. 'I need to make this look convincing so he doesn't notice.

Menma made 20 more clones and they all started assaulting him. Everytime they managed to make him fall or it seemed like they were about to get a hit he would disappear into a shadow that a shelf made. Eventually Menma got tired of this and used Kamui on everything inside the store.

Saburo looked around and stated, "All you did was make it so your defeat will arrive sooner." Menma started warming himself up and got into an unorthodox stance and tried to blitz him right away. It failed but now that he was close enough he wanted to test out if a genjutsu would work. He activated his EMS and tried to activate Tsukiyomi. But Saburo wasn't making eye contact. In fact, it looked like his eyes weren't even there.

Menma backed up slightly freaked out and Saburo chuckled a bit. "Surprised?" Menma replied, "Where are you eyes?" Saburo put a hand over his eyes and when he put his hand back down his eyes reappeared. "You did you really think I can only go into the shadows with my entire body? I can send individual parts of my body into them if I need to. Just now I sent my eyes into the shadows and I was granted a cinematic view. Also, look at your right side."

Menma did what he said and looked at his right side. After looking at it, his eyes widened and he noticed blood was pouring out of his side. He also noticed the bloody blade on Saburo's foot. He collapsed onto the ground and Saburo stood over him. "Give up, I just stabbed your liver and you might bleed out. I don't want to have to kill you."

Menma laughed a little and responded with, "Oh, you don't have to worry about me bleeding out, Minako made sure of that." Saburo's brows furrowed and he asked, "Who's Minako?" Menma started standing up and replied, "Do you remember a red haired woman you kidnapped and gave to a royal family?" Saburo asked, "What about her?"

"She died because of you. But before she died, she gave me this." Saburo showed signs of slight surprise and asked, "She was killed? I didn't"- Saburo was cut off by a burst of light that surrounded Menma's waist. Saburo had to run to the other side of the store.

Menma noticed part of Saburo's cloak came off and took note of it. 'Alright now I just need to'- Menma's thoughts were cut off in return when he something right behind him.

Without thinking he instinctively activated Kamui as a blade went right through his head. Sachi followed right after the blade and stood next to Saburo. Sen followed right after him and Menma was once again confronted by all 3 of them.

Menma grunted and thought, 'I guess I was a bit naive to think everything would go exactly as planned. They showed up a bit earlier than I thought they would, but this can work in my favor.'

Without any words being said Menma took the initiative and started attacking by himself with tso gloves on his hand. As Menma expected he wasn't doing too well. The closest he came to hitting them was just grazing them, and even then they probably let him come that close just so they could counter it.

If there was a tally board of hits landed it would be Menma-0 and Shadowtrio-60. Everytime Menma got hit some blood and saliva would come flying out of his mouth.

Eventually Menma backed off and thought, 'The fact that they're so much better than me at fighting is extremely irritating. With some people like Sasori I was able to just overwhelm them, but even if I was stronger than these guys that kind of tactic wouldn't work. But at least I don't have to do this anymore, all of my prerequisites are in place, I can start now.'

Menma turns his fingers into a flint and steel. "Menma, this is your last chance, I've been trying to avoid killing you. But if I have to I will," Saburo stated. Menma activated Kamui and looked at both Sachi and Sen transporting them away.

Menmna snapped his fingers and all of the oil that covered the room set aflame in an instant. Saburo instantly fell to the ground and started screaming in agony as his cloak was getting burned off by the flames.

Eventually none of his cloak remained and Menma got a good look at his face. He had emerald eyes and black hair and his facial expression resembled frustration and sorrow. "Why did you send away my 2 brothers?" Saburo asked.

Menma responded, "You 3 have more cooperation than my shadow clones ever could. Your coordination is so on point that sometimes I think that the 3 of you share the same mind. I'm sure that if I used this on all 3 of you, you would have found out a way to escape."

Saburo looked down and stated, "We underestimated you. I don't hate you, but you'll end up regretting not seeing our side of things." Menma turned away and started walking away, but before he left he took Saburo's soul. 'I don't want to give Odin anymore souls, I'm gonna start holding on to them.

Menma walked outside and took a deep breath and said, "Now I'm just gonna recover a bit and then"- Menma was cut off by the sound of footsteps approaching to his right. He jerked his head in the direction of the steps and saw 2 familiar shadowy figures. 'Huh? What? How is this possible? I sent them to the Kamui dimension... how did they come back?'

'Rerumu Kara Rerumu. He thinks that the ability is as simple as just shadows, but it's much more than that... wait, where is Saburo?' Sachi thought. Sen also noticed their brothers absence and narrowed his eyes. "Where is Saburo?" Sachi asked.

Menma got over his initial shock and answered, "He's in a place I'm gonna send you to soon." Both of their eyes widened and Sachi started seething. "YOU BASTARD! I knew we shouldn't have gone easy on you!" Sachi shouted as he started charging towards Menma with Sen flowing behind with an equally determined face.

Menma braced himself and thought, 'Seriously? They were going easy on me earlier?!?' Menma activated Kamui and Sachi flew right through him.

Menma started running away and ran through block 2009 and the corner of block 2008 a couple times before running into the forest. He eventually arrived at a deep river and stopped right in front of it.

Sachi came from behind and tried to slice him but Kamui was still active. Sachi started a constant assault on him which didn't give Menma a single chance to drop Kamui. 'Ok, I need to find some kind of pattern in his moves if I'm gonna get a chance to grab him. Then I can'- Menma's thoughts were cut off he suddenly felt a gut wrenching pain in his stomach.

Sachi noticed his sudden pause and sliced for his neck, but Menma still had Kamui active so it passed right through. But Menma still felt pain in his neck and he started choking on blood. Menma used Amaterasu to force Sachi to back off and he activated Angelic Blessing to heal himself.

'What the hell are these people?!? First they escape the dimension and then they find their way back?! It's gonna be really hard if I can't use that anymore, but I can't risk getting stabbed,' Menma thought.

Sachi read Menma's facial expression and concluded that he already found out what they did and he wouldn't use that again. Sachi started an endless assault on him. He would jump from shadow then slash at him then dive into another shadow before appearing out of another shadow.

Each time he did this Menma would just barely avoid a lethal hit but he would still get scraped by the blade which left lots of gashes on his arms and legs.

"Why did you kill Saburo?! He could have killed you a long time ago but he didn't!" Sachi asked. Menma replied, "His kindness was his downfall. My mission is something that goes much deeper than what you know. Let's say I did surrender, what would happen then? Would you tell me not to come back again, or would you take me as a prisoner?"

Sachi didn't reply out loud, he simply thought, 'If you surrendered we would have convinced why you don't have to kill Orochimaru, but you're too far gone now.'

Menma had thought that Sachi would have at least slowed down by now, but he showed no signs of stopping and Menma's wounds only grew. 'This is getting exhausting, I feel like I might collapse any minute now.'

Menma tried to use Amaterasu so he could get breathing room. His eye started bleeding and Sachi backed off, but the black flames never came. Menma's eyes widened and he looked down at his hands. "So you finally noticed." Sachi stated.

Menma blurted out, "My chakra! How did I lose so much?!?" Sachi held up his blade and announced, "Since you already figured it out I'll just say it. My sword doesn't just scrape away things, it also leeches off chakra."

Menma acknowledged Sachi's words and smiled in his head as his heart rate accelerated, 'I'm glad I had a plan B for that. But I'm not sure if I'll be able to use it."

Sachi started his assault again and as he kept going Menma started to concentrate and take advantage of his 6 paths sage mode. 'I need to sense deeper.' Menma started to concentrate harder than he did when he was learning sage mode and he started to sense more than just the chakra in the area. He started sending the slight vibrations in the ground caused by footsteps, and the movement of air molecules caused by a solid person passing by, along with the wavelengths that were all around him. He eyes were closed but he still saw a bright light in front of him. He felt the urge to grab it and he reached his hand out and grasped the light.

He opened his eyes and saw that he grabbed Sachi's arm. Menma didn't waste any time and before putting any thought into it he activated his God Seal and sent all of his nature chakra into Sachi.

Sachi backed up and felt a bizarre feeling. He noticed he started bloating and shouted, "What the hell did you just do!?!" Menma responded, "I gave you nature energy, anyone that hasn't trained with it will turn into stone if it enters their body."

Menma expected despair when Sachi learned this news, but all he saw was pure determination in Sachi's face as he started bloating. Sachi darted at Menma and raised his sword while shouting, "I won't let you hurt Sen!" Menma was caught off guard by his sudden assault and put up an arm to protect himself.

His arm was cut off and Menma screamed in pain. Sachi tried to follow up but Menma kicked him away into the river. Sachi tried to swim up but most of his body was already stone and he didn't have the strength to swim up. He desperately tried to swim up anyway as he started drowning, but it was futile. He eventually accepted his fate and his last dying thought was, 'This reminds me of when Orochimaru taught us to swim... I did all I could, so don't lose, Sen.'

Menma used Angelic blessing after absorbing a clone that was gathering sage energy. Menma looked down at his arm that was cut off and thought, "I may have the 1st Hokage's cells, but I won't regenerate this until morning. I'm glad he didn't cut off my arm with the God seal.' Menma tried to walk away and started thinking, "Having only one arm is depressing."

Even though Menma used Angelic Blessing his body was still aching. Menma's attention was averted from his missing arm when he heard a mournful scream come from further into the forest. Menma started running upstream and thought, 'This is happening earlier than I'd like, but I'm gonna have to go through with this plan now. Saburo was definitely the smartest, that's why he required such a discreet plan. And Sachi must have been the fastest. But I don't know what Sen is capable of. So if this plan doesn't work I have nothing left that I can do.'

Menma arrived at the waterfall he was looking for and gulped. 'I'm pretty sure this can kill me, but I'll end up dying anyway if I don't go through with this. Menma pulled out the bubble bath bottle he pulled off the shelf earlier and he brought it to his lips. He instinctively recoiled.

Menma looked at the bottle for what felt like an hour. He eventually heard footsteps approaching and without hesitation he gulped down the whole bottle. He covered his mouth to stop himself from vomiting. 'Ok, now I need to mix this the right way with yin yang release,' Menma thought.

Sen came into view and his eyes reflected hate. 'The bubble bath bottle was only a 3rd of the plan. I have to thank Nero later for teaching me a little bit about those seals and conditions for conditions. Honestly in literally any other situation than this, this technique would be useless and detrimental, but it's perfect for this. We started a little past midnight and it should be about 6:15 now.' Menma calculated.

Menma finished his thoughts and looked back at Sen. Menma felt slight surprise looking into his eyes. He didn't purely reflect hate, he showed despair more than anything else. From the redness of his eyes Menma thought he must have been crying.

"What the hell is wrong with you? We offered you surrender and you killed us in response?! Screw trying to convince you!! You killed both of my brothers, I'll kill for this YOU BASTARD!!!" Sen screamed aloud.

As Sen started charging at Menma his thoughts were, 'He's... he's just a child. He must be younger than me. All of them are skilled enough to kill someone with 1 attack, but I'm questioning myself whether or not they've truly killed anyone before.'

Sen distance from Menma was now only 5 meters and before he could come any closer he sunk into his own shadow. Menma braced himself for an attack from any direction, but it never came. Before Menma could do anything he suddenly felt like he was sinking.

Menma looked down and saw Sen pulling him down into the ground from within his shadow. Menma quickly started flying up but before he got his foot completely out of the shadow Sen cut a small piece of his foot off.

Menma looked down at Sen from above. But before he could formulate any plans Sen reached his hand into a shadow. 'Saburo had a trick where he sends only parts of his body into the shadows, I should be able to do the same thing. I put my trust in your technique brother.'

Menma suddenly felt a horrible pain in his shoulder and slowly glanced at it. He noticed that an arm was coming out from under his collar and stabbing into his shoulder.

Menma started panicking and his thoughts were frantic, 'What the hell?! How is this possible!?! He shouldn't be able to reach up here!?! How is he doing this?!' All of Menma's thoughts caused him to lose focus and his 6 paths sage mode deactivated. He started free falling and he fell straight into the river as his blood started pouring out of his body.

Menma looked up at the sky as his body started feeling numb. He started seeing bizzare images flashing before his eyes. Some were from before he became friends with Kurama. Some were from when he escaped Orochimaru's hideout a couple years ago. And some were from only a few hours ago.

Menma started standing up and a faint grin fashioned his lips. He thought, 'Ah, now I see, he figured out he can send parts of his body into the shadows by themselves and bring them back out of the shadows created from wrinkles and flappy parts of people's clothes. How terrifying. But I'm not gonna die just yet. I still have some chakra, and the end goal of my plan is right within my grasp.'

He glanced at a bubble right in front of him and he looked at Sen. "Hey Sen, do you know what time of day it is?" Menma asked in a knowing tone.

Sen was slightly confused by the question, but his eyes widened as he looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was out. Menma took advantage of that moment of surprise and activated the tso walls surrounding the bottom of the waterfall.

Sen felt extremely confused and he asked, "How is it morning?! We only started to fight 30 minutes ago around midnight."

Menma couldn't hold back a smile and he thought, 'There's nothing more satisfying than a plan that works out. Menma stated, "That is the power of Uzumaki seals. Condition and condition. My first condition was that when my targets make eye contact with a certain object they are unconsciously put under a genjutsu that makes it so everytime they see it they go sleep for 1 hour. And because my targets are bonded to it, it will activate if even 1 of you see it. Now my other condition a.k.a. rules were that I would also be put under the genjutsu, the targets must make eye contact with the object while also being within 5 meters of it, it drains my chakra every minute, and I'll never be able to use this ability again after the day is over. The object In question was a light pole on the corner of Block 2008. I wasn't simply just running around. And all of it finally worked out."

In the time Menma described all of that Sen's shadowy cloak burned off. He looked around for an escape opportunity, but he noticed that within the tso walls there were no shadows, not even below his feet. There were only bubbles. "I thought I would die, but I managed to clear my system of all of that bubble bath stuff after getting stabbed. After getting all of that stuff out of my system these nature energy enhanced bubbles were formed, they reflect light significantly more than they would normally do. There's no way to escape now."

Sen gritted his teeth and charged at Menma. "I'm still far superior than you at Taijutsu!" Sen shouted. Menma closed his eyes and replied with, "That may be true, but..." Menma let himself get stabbed but redirected it to a non lethal spot next to his heart and activated Angelic Blessing and stopped his bleeding before it got bad.

Sen tried to back off but Menma grabbed his arm and a tear of blood came from Menma's eye before he reopened them and Black flames enveloped Sens's body. Menma let go of Sen and Sen tried to dive into the river to stop the flames but they never stopped. "Angelic Blessing, this is an ability given to me by a kind woman you sent to death. Now I'm returning the favor." Menma stated.

Eventually Sen stopped moving and his body settled as the flames consumed him underwater.

Menma's eyes returned to their normal blue and he didn't have enough chakra to maintain his water walking. He swam to shore and stood up. "Well I should get back home before Nozomi wakes up, I don't want to worry h"- Menma stopped talking when he lost the strength to speak and his body collapsed. It was like his body realized it's mission was completed and his body gave out.

Menma didn't have the strength to do anything, he couldn't even move his lips to call for help. He tried to mold some chakra so he could make a tso fly him home, but he didn't have enough chakra.

He laid there broken with a missing arm and a mangled foot along with many other scars littering his body.

Eventually Menma also lost his will power too and he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. 'I'm so tired, I think I'm gonna sleep now... yeah, that sounds good."


	25. Pokanto Mountain

Menma woke up and the cold hard ground of a foreign place, he rolled over and saw his reflection in the ground. He noticed his eyes were golden for the first time in 2 years. He also noticed he had both of his arms.

He stood up and looked around. The place he was in resembled some kind of huge golden palace with statues of men depicted in heroic ways. One was a man with one eye that looked like Menma's, he also had a raven in his hand and a name at the bottom that said Odin. Then next line was a man with long hair holding a hammer standing on top of a dead giant with the name Thor. There were some others but Menma didn't bother with them and started looking around. 'This place doesn't seem like anywhere I've been.' Menma thought.

He heard murmurs and peeked around the corner. He saw an old man in a chair with a onyx magical ball taking to someone. The man looked like Odin and Menma felt slight anger staring at him. He also noticed that he seemed like that guy that told him a riddle at the Eastern Hideout.

"Has Thor returned from Jotunheim yet?" Odin asked. His advisor responded with, "Yes, but he failed to find that pesky fox." Menma couldn't resist the urge to smile and he thought, 'Fox? Could it be Kurama?!?' Menma shook his head and thought, 'I can't get my hopes up. It could just be another fox.'

Odin slammed his fist down on the side of his throne. "If I don't kill that fox soon he might find a way to get here. His overwhelming presence has created slight disturbances in Asgard. He can control his presence, but he's purposely making it spike out of control. So how can Thor not find something that big?!!?" Odin shouted.

The advisor replied, "He's more sly than any common fox, he's more sneaky than Loki." Odin calmed down and regained his posture. I don't know how the fox knows, but I'm sure that he's aware of what I'm trying to do with the souls of these ninjas. His presence is messing up the process and I haven't been able to absorb many souls at all." Odin stated.

The advisor asked, "Have any of the souls stood out from the rest?" Odin pondered on his question and answered, "There was this one blonde haired girl with a fan who was close to that child Menma, but that's it."

Menma's eyes widened after hearing what Odin said. But strangely, he noticed he felt nothing. 'Does that mean I'll never see her again?' Menma clutched his chest where his heart was and thought, 'Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel nothing? Was the love only a childish thing or something? Did it fade because it's been so long?!?'

Although he felt nothing from the news, the feeling of nothingness brought about it's own sadness. But Menma decided now wasn't the time to feel this way. He numbers himself and continued on spying.

He realized that they left and there was no longer anyone in the room. He thought about using Sage mode to make sure but decided against it since he didn't want to get discovered.

He ran into the room and looked at the onyx magic ball in front of Odin's throne. He tried to pick it up but as soon as he touched it he woke up.

He rubbed his eyes and looked around himself again. He noticed he was inside a hospital, but not just any hospital. This was Konoha Hospital. But before he could react in any way he noticed Adonai was staring at him from the corner of the room.

Menma opened his mouth and started blurting out everything that happened. He needed to get it off his chest. Adonai simply sat there and listened to him the whole time. Menma's tone of voice was a mix of worry, triumph, confusion, and sadness. At the end Adonai simply nodded and said, "I know. That wasn't a dream, your golden eyes ended up astral projecting you into Asgard."

Menma looked down at the ground. "Tell me something Adonai, is it normal to feel nothing from her death... cause even though it brings me great sadness every time, I don't want my loved ones deaths to be something I get used too."

Adonai gave him a mixed look that showed sympathy for his sadness and envy for how a human could experience such strong sadness. "In humans sometimes your brain presses the pause button on your emotions to protect you from something terrible so you can survive your day. This will eventually pass."

Menma's face showed relief and Adonai asked, "How do you feel about your fight with those 3 brothers?" Menma thought for a second and replied, "Excluding Orochimaru's torture it was probably the most difficult thing I went through."

Adonai nodded and asked, 'That's it? You don't feel any regret? Or desire that it could have ended differently?" Menma raised an eyebrow to this and stated, "I don't know about any other way it could have ended." Adonai peered his eyes and mentioned, "That one boy Sen acted a lot like Naruto. He wanted you to help them with something he found just rather than killing you like he was ordered to."

Menma gave him a slight glare and responded, "Don't compare those two. Naruto would never work for someone like Orochimaru!" Adonai sighed and replied, "You're only seeing things from your side. There must be a factor you're missing. Something could have happened anywhere between Odin's influence and now. You sh"-"Adonai, I know that sometimes there's more than what meets the eye. But Orochimaru is not one of those cases. Jiraiya even told me once that Orochimaru was always detached and cruel since they were young they were deluded." Menma Stated.

Adonai sighed a started fading away while thinking, "His hatred for Orochimaru is too strong. I know the truth, but he'll never accept until Orochimaru is already dead. I could intervene, but even if I made Menma think Orochimaru was dead and revealed the truth to him then Orochimaru would either still be under Odin's influence or he would be angered by his children's deaths. On the other hand, his hatred is a strong motivator, it will make him stronger. He already doesn't need the God Seal anymore. It didn't activate once throughout his battle so it seems it merged with him quicker than expected. But still, I should quell his hatred before darkness consumes his heart... although, I might not need to do that. Nozomi is the only person he has right now that calms his heart on sight. Hopefully that will be enough.'

Menma heard footsteps coming from his left and saw Jiraiya come in. Menma felt shock but before he could say anything Jiraiya hugged him. Menma returned the hug and Jiraiya said, "Jeez kid. I thought I'd lose you." Menma asked, "Jiraiya sensei, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be in the Rain Village by now.

Jiraiya responded, "A toad came and reverse summoned me after they said you were in trouble. When I saw you... I really thought you were already dead. You lost so much blood." Menma smiled and asked, "Jiraiya, can you take me back to the Sound Village?"

Jiraiya backed away and was left silent. He finally said, "Menma, you nearly died last night. You may have an amazing healing factor, but you shouldn't just jump into danger because of that." Menma quickly replied, "Those 3 were the strongest in the village by far. No else there even comes close besides Orochimaru."

Jiraiya showed an expression of slight shock and asked, "You're gonna try to fight Orochimaru?! What are you thinking?!? Even if you win he always comes back!" Menma smirked and said, "I'm not stupid Jiraiya. I'm not gonna just rush in there. Besides, I found someone that will teach me how to learn powerful seals at someplace called Pokanto Mountain.

Once again Jiraiya looked shocked and he asked, "Did you say Pokanto Mountain?" Menma nodded and Jiraiya asked, "Who told you about that place?" Menma told him, "Someone called Nero Uzumaki did."

Jiraiya put a hand up to his chin and started contemplating what he should do. He sighed and conceited. "Alright, we can go back." Menma pumped a fist into the air but before he could celebrate more Jiraiya cut him off, "On one condition. You must promise that you won't go after Orochimaru until you finish 2 weeks of training.

Menma scoffed. "2 weeks?!" He blurted out. No exceptions!" Jiraiya stated firmly. Menma was about to say something but finally conceited. He reluctantly replied, "Fine."

Menma got his standard attire on and stretched. Menma informed Jiraiya, "Just so you know it will be a lot faster if I just teleport us there."

Jiraiya showed a face of reluctance and mentioned, "I heard your teleporting makes people pretty nauseous." Menma shook his head and replied, "Those stories are exaggerated, c'mon." Jiraiya sighed and said, "Fine."

Menma placed a hand on his shoulder and space started warping around them as the setting changed from the hospital to the Sound village.

Menma stared around himself and noticed he was at Minako's house. Menma turned towards Jiraiya and asked him, "Can you stay here?" Jiraiya nodded and Menma walked up to the door and knocked a few times.

He heard the door unlock and Mina was the one to open it. Before he could say anything she instantly embraced him. "Thank Goodness you're back! We thought you wouldn't return!" Mina blurted out.

Mina released the hug and Suigetsu showed up from behind her and both Menma and him exchanged smirks. Jiraiya walked forward and stated, "You sure got close with these two pretty fast."

Menma nodded and replied, "Nothing brings people closer than going through life and death situations together." Menma looked at his two friends and asked, "How's Nozomi?"

Menma expected she might be sad but what Suigetsu said surprised him. "She's great, somebody came by earlier looking for you to take you to someplace called Pokanto Mountain and she went along with them. She seemed pretty determined."

Menma was surprised by the news and turned around. "In that case I should go there now!" Suigetsu put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Hold on for just a minute, are you alright?" Menma looked at him a little confused and replied, "Of course I'm alright, why wouldn't I be?"

Suigetsu opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but he never spoke and shook his head. "Nevermind, let's just go." Mina shared the same look he did but she decided not to say anything either.

"Alright then let's go... but before we do, where's Toshiro?" Suigetsu told him, "He left the village. He didn't say much before he left, but I think he felt powerless since he was the only one with no techniques to use so he wanted to get out of the way."

Menma was saddened by the news but he understood. "Well it can't be helped, we should go now." Suigetsu nodded and they went on their way.

While they were on the way Suigetsu asked Menma, "Hey Menma, how different do you think life would be if the girl approached the guy? Like you know, they would ask you to be their boyfriend instead of the other way around?"

Menma pondered on what to say and replied, "Well I'll say this, people are not created equal because let's be real, it would practically be like someone picking out a pet. They would just walk up to a guy and say, "You're mine." And they'd instantly be in a relationship."

Suigetsu giggled at Menma's answer and agreed. "Yeah, when it comes to a lot of things girls really have it simple."

Mina looked at him and cut in, "Not really, girls definitely have it worse when it comes to a lot of things, I mean we have to go through stuff like periods and pregnancies, while all the guys have to do is plant the seed then your job is done."

Suigetsu put up his hands in defence and replied, "Yeah yeah I guess you're right... but there is one other thing they have it a lot easier in," Menma started rubbing his pale white locks of hair and asked, "What's that?"

"They have makeup."-Suigetsu. "And how's that make things easier?"-Menma. "Well we both know that women look better than men, it's always been like that." Menma looked at him weirdly and Suigetsu admitted, "Ok I might be a bit bias since I like women. What do you think Mina?" Mina responded with, "I don't think there's a real answer to that. I like men so I find them better looking."

Suigetsu grunted and continued on, "Well anyways the point is this. Let's say a girl was ugly, if they used makeup they could go from a 3/10 to a 8/10 just like that! But with guys, if you weren't born with handsome looks like me, then you're screwed."

Menma chuckled at what he said at the end but then he replied, "Yeah you're right, but why can't a guy where makeup?" Suigetsu gave him a mixed look and replied, "I mean... that's a weird question, a guy would usually just know... but if I had to say it it's a girl product, only time guys wear makeup is to look like a clown, and the makeup just makes them look either scary or goofy."

"Well I'm not talking about a whole face of makeup, but maybe something small like mascara, or a light lear of lipstick." Suigetsu thought for a second and replied, "Well I guess mascara isn't too bad, lipstick is a bit of a stretch though. But then again, did you know that some people can have naturally blue and green lips because of some kind of discoloration?"

"No, that's pretty interesting," Suigetsu said, "Yeah... but in all honesty." Suigetsu pointed at Menma, "With those long curly eyelashes of yours you already look like you wear mascara!"-Suigetsu.

Menma snickered a little and responded with, "What are you coming at me for? Look at your blue hair highlights and how your wet all the time, you look like you're about to model for a magazine!"

"I could say the same about you. You have the stereotypical model hair style!" Suigetsu retorted. Menma looked at him stupidly and shouted, "We both have the same hairstyle baka!" Mina blurted out, "Would both of you shut up!?"

The rest of the walk was silent until they turned a corner and saw the mountain. the mountain was unlike any other they've ever seen. The name Pokanto was really fitting, because there was a giant gaping hole in the middle of the mountain that let you see the other side.

"How does something like this happen? Is this natural?" Menma asked. Jiraiya shook his head and announced, "This mountain ended up like this after a battle between a Uzumaki clan member and the 9 tails. Even though he wasn't an elite clan member he could still hold off the Kyuubi with his seals long enough so that elite members could show up. This mountain is a testament to the power of the Uzumaki's sealing techniques."

The 3 teens stood in awe at the thought but Jiraiya brought them out of their trance. "Well c'mon, just a few more minutes and we'll be there."

They continued their journey until they reached the peak of the mountain and once the teens regained focus they started breathing heavily. "Why is it so hard to breath up here?" Suigetsu wheezed. Jiraiya answered, "We're on top of a mountain."

Menma wheezed, "Still though... this isn't a very big mountain... the air pressure shouldn't be this low." Jiraiya smirked and asked, "Do you remember if Nero used any seals on you the first time you meant? Like one that affected a single room or area?" Menma nodded and Jiraiya continued, "Well this is the same thing. Come on, you guys will need to get used to this before you guys can do anything. I'll tell him to put down the seal for now."

They all continued their walk for a couple more minutes until they reached a gate with the Uzumaki Crest on it. The gate opened and Nero greeted them with a smile. He adjusted his slim glasses and exclaimed, "You actually came! With all your friends too."

Menma didn't respond and kept on breathing heavily. Nero looked at him slightly confused and Jiraiya whispered in his ear. Nero made an O shape with this mouth and snapped his fingers. The air pressure returned back to normal and all 3 members of Kitsune took a deep breath.

Menma asked, "You thought I wouldn't come?" Nero nodded and stated, "The look in your eyes are a lot calmer now. But when I first met you I thought you would have went straight to Orochimaru."

Jiraiya cleared his throat to make himself noticed and Nero looked towards him. He jumped a little and blurted out, "Jiraiya! You're here too?!" Mina looked perplexed and asked, "You two know each other?"

Jiraiya ruffled up Nero's hair to his annoyance and answered, "Yeah we do. It's been a while though. Last time I saw you, you were about up to here," Jiraiya put his hand up to his stomach mimicking Nero's height back then.

Nero decided to give a clearer answer while pulling Jiraiya's hand off his head, "He's friends with my master. I can tell you the full story but you should come inside first."

Once everyone was inside a thought popped into Menma's head and he asked Nero a question, "Where is Nozomi?" Nero answered, "She should be sleeping right now. She was already really restless when I met her. She seemed really worried about you. Like you were in some kind of danger. She insisted I bring her with me so I did. But were you in any trouble?"

Menma stood silent for a few moments as he thought, 'How could she know I was in trouble? I hid it from her pretty well.' "Yeah I was in trouble. But the problem is taken care of now."

Nero nodded and stated, "Well since you finally got here you should meet my master Kiritsugu." They all followed him through the big house and along the way there were many paintings of a city that looked almost futuristic in comparison to Konoha. There were also many artifacts.

They eventually slid open a door and were greeted by a man that seemed to be 20 years younger than Jiraiya. He had on old Uzumaki armor and faded pink hair along with a thick beard. He looked up at them and his eyes landed upon Jiraiya.

He smiled and greeted him, "Jiraiya boy! Didn't expect to see you for awhile!" Menma looked slightly confused and thought out loud, "Boy?" Both of the elders heard what Menma said and chuckled. Jiraiya answered, "Despite his looks he's about 20 years older than me."

Menma nodded, "Ah, so he does the same thing Tsunade does?" Kiritsugu shook his head and corrected him, "No. Tsunade disguises herself to appear younger. I just use seals on my own body to slow down it's aging process."

Menma had a look of awe and blurted out, "You can slow down you aging with seals?!" Kiritsugu nodded and stated, "If I wanted too I could make myself immortal. But that would be pretty boring.

The causal way Kiritsugu spoke about immortality threw off Menma and he didn't know what to say. Kiritsugu burst out laughing and Nero reassured Menma, "He's half joking." Menma kept the same expression and asked, "Only half?"

"He isn't lying about how he could become immortal, but it isn't as simple as his tone implies. You'd need to have a good understanding revolving around the subject of what you're trying to do."

For once Suigetsu seemed genuinely interested and he asked, "Can you give an example?" Nero thought for a second then answered, "Let's say you wanted something that sped up your regeneration. Or maybe even something that enhances your natural healing abilities. You'd need to have a good understanding as to how things about cells work like cellular respiration, mitosis, and some other things like that."

Suigetsu showed an expression of clear confusion and Nero stated, "I understand your confusion. Cellular respiration isn't really something you normally learn in your ninja life. Do you want to learn though?" Suigstsu nodded, "These seals sound really cool, but one thing first. What's a cell?"

Nero had a deadpan expression and started thinking, 'He isn't joking is he? Even a 9 year old at least knows they make up the body.' Kiritsugu broke the silence in the room and burst out laughing. "Nero, I can teach this one. You should take the other 2 kids to their rooms." Jiraiya asked, "What about me?"

"Don't worry, I just need to talk to you about something" Kiritsugu stated reassuringly.

Nero took the two teens out of the room and they started walking down one of the many corridors of the house to their own rooms.

As they walked Menma looked around at all the ornate vases and designs that decorated the walls of the house. Nero noticed his constant admiration of everything around him and stated, "These are all relics from the good old Hidden Eddy Village in the Land of Whirlpools. As you already that village is no more, but Kiritsugu managed to recover all of these artifacts."

Menma asked, "Is that so? How did he do that? From what I know the place was completely destroyed without a single trace of Uzumaki's left except for our clan symbol." Nero put his hand up to his chin and thought. He eventually answered, "I never bothered asking. Why do you ask?"

Menma shrugged his shoulders and responded, "Not sure. Just sounds weird to me. So how were the Uzumaki's taken out anyway?" Nero replied quicker this time and answered, "They were taken out the same way the Uchiha's were, but on a much bigger scale. Multiple nations teamed up against them believing they were too powerful." Menma asked, "Do you know what nations?"

Nero sighed and pointed out, "You sure ask a lot questions," while retaining his smile. Menma apologized, "I'm sorry," Nero waved him off and reassured him, "It's ok, but I don't know what nations, Master Kiritsugu might know since he was one of the only Uzumaki's to escape."

Menma was surprised when he heard him say multiple Uzumaki's. He was about to ask another question but judging by Nero's look he didn't feel like answering anymore questions, so Menma got the hint and decided he'd ask Kiritsugu later.

Now that Menma had his mind off of his questions concerning their clan he started to realize how big the house was and he started thinking about how long they've been walking. Nero eventually stopped and pointed at some rooms. He stated, "You can sleep in any of these rooms besides that one. That's where Nozomi is sleeping right now.

Menma asked, "What's she sleeping in the middle of the day for?" Nero answered, "I told you earlier. She couldn't sleep because she was worried about you. I had to convince her you were safe so that she would sleep." Menma asked, "Did she say anything besides that she was worried about me?"

"Hmmmm, well she did say she wanted to get stronger. So I thought I could train her." After hearing that Mina noticed Menma's face showed dread and she said, "Menma, is there a problem? Isn't it a good thing that she is becoming stronger?"

Menma shook his head and stated, "If she wants to be stronger that gives some indication that she intends on fighting the enemy. I can't protect her effectively in a situation like that." Nero peered his eyes and stated, "If you feel that strongly about it you should talk to Nozomi about that. You can't pamper her forever." Menma remained silent and they all walked outside.

"Ok, If you 2 are ready I can start teaching you the basics," Nero stated. Menma raised his hand to catch Nero's attention and pulled a set of the 3 books he got from Minato. Menma mentioned, "These books belonged to my father. He was supposed to be a sealing master." Nero looked at the book and jumped a little. "You're the 4th Hokage's son?!"

Nero started rambling on and on about how honored he felt and how cool Minato was before Menma put up a hand asked, "I just wanna know if you can do anything with it." Nero nodded and cleared his throat, "Yes, I'll fill you in on them tomorrow, these are more sealing... well I guess since you already made it this far I should reveal to you these aren't called sealing techniques Choetsujutsu. Or Transcendent techniques. A lot of these techniques are based around sealing, whether it's slowing down, stopping, binding, or bringing something together. But they are such a high level that they can't be considered sealing techniques. You've already seen a few examples when I slowed down time and lowered the air pressure."

"Alright well that's the basic premise of it so now I'll go on to how it works. The biggest thing that separates them from regular techniques is how you create or active them. With normal jutsus like the water dragon jutsu you use hand signs to form the dragon, but with Choetsu techniques you use your mind." Menma cut in, "How can that happen?" Nero replied, "I'm getting to that. You can ask your questions at the end."

"The concept of Choetsu techniques is similar to a tribes God. You fulfill their needs with sacrifices and it will grant you a bountiful harvest. Sacrifices being restrictions, and the bountiful harvest being the effect you desired. Naturally depending on the restriction you can increase the abilities power. It can be as silly as drink 8 glasses of water a day or something as restricting as dedicating the Choetsu technique to 1 person. There's someone in your village who unknowingly created a Choetsu technique. Can you guess who?"

Menma thought for a second then it suddenly clicked in his head. "Tsunade," Nero gave him a thumbs up and said, "Bingo! Her restriction is to limit how much chakra she can use for a long time while constantly building up a huge supply of special chakra. In return she has obtained a second huge chakra pool that can grant her extraordinary healing abilities."

Menma face showed some disappointment and Nero noticed it. He asked him, "Is something wrong?" Menma looked up at him and asked, "Does every Choetsu technique require you to sacrifice something or restrict yourself in some way?" Nero grinned and answered his question, "I'm glad you asked. No not everything has to be that way. Choetsu techniques are quite forgiving and sympathetic. The power of something can be heavily boosted based on how strongly you feel about something. Even if you don't feel too strongly about something you can still make a Choetsu that simply requires you to build up something like speed. Do you want me to test one of the techniques on you?"

Menma looked a bit uncomfortable and Nero reassured him, "It won't hurt I promise. It's a non lethal one." Menmafinally submitted and let Nero walk towards him.

Nero got within punching distance of him and he started focusing. He focused on Menma's torso and struck him right above his heart with a single finger.

Menma panicked a little at first but then realized he didn't feel any pain. "Try to move," Nero ordered. Menma did what he was told and tried to walk forward but he ended up walking diagonally backwards to the right. At first he thought he might have lost his balance but he tried to move forward again and this time he moved sideways.

He remained like this for a few minutes. Eventually Menma started feeling extreme discomfort and the ability stopped on it's own. "Very interesting. I hate it," Menma stated. Nero chuckled a little and stated, "That was Shinkei Sosa. By hitting a nerve you can mess up the arrangement of nerves and the way signals from your brain travel. To avoid someone getting use to the ability it alternates between which direction you'll move in. The only reason it affected your whole body is because your torso connects to everything else, but if I hit your arm it would only affect the arm."

Menma laughed nervously and replied, "For a non lethal ability that's really dangerous." Nero nodded in agreement and stated, "Yeah, that's why there's a short time limit on it. Although there are different variations of it. There's one that's pretty basic since it just makes everything backwards, there's also a great counter to this ability called Hon'nō-tekina Ugoki or instinctive movement. It causes your body to move based on instinct instead of relying on your brain. This ability doesn't need a restriction because it's already dangerous on it's own to move based on instinct instead of your brain. But it is great for if someone is frozen In fear."

Menma nodded but before he could ask anymore questions Mina poked his shoulder and pointed towards where they came from. Standing there was Nozomi. Nero already knew what Menma was thinking and told both of them, "We can continue these lessons either tomorrow or later today. You two probably need to talk. If you guys come back soon I'll still be out here and we can continue our lessons like normal."


	26. Unusual Training

If you read the first version of Chapter 25 then you'll notice I retconned a conversation between Menma and Suigetsu from the last chapter. I did this cause while writing a convo I forgot I already wrote it but decided it would be more impactful here.

For Menma it felt like the first time ever seeing Nozomi. Instead of resembling his mother Kushina he could tell she had a more individual aura now. Her eyes had a more sapphire-like glow to them and they had rounded slits(in the middle of sharp Kurama eyes and normal circular eyes), and her lower back length hair had 2 braids resting over her chest. Her white cat ears and tail twitched slightly when she saw him. Her eyes also became round.

Once Menma finished his analysis he started approaching her with a smile. As he got closer to her he noticed she looked a little upset. Once they were a meter apart he asked her, "Is something wrong?"

Nozomi's eyes moved from him down to the ground and she answered with another question, "I was really worried after you left last night. I thought you were going to your own room but you went back outside. I remember waking up halfway back home and you told me nothing was wrong, but that was a lie wasn't it? Where did you go?"

Menma remained silent for a few moments as he thought, 'She's already acting a lot different than I remember. Was she holding back this side of herself? She isn't nearly as childish as I remember.' "You're right, right after you fell asleep I went back outside and fought the 3 shadow brothers. They were the ones that kidnapped you. Menma wondered how he should censor his words. "They're taken care of now and you won't have to worry about them anymore. They weren't much trouble."

Menma decided to leave out the part of his injuries, but Nozomi looked at him suspiciously again. 'Did she catch on to my lie?' Nozomi looked down at the ground sadly and replied, "If they were easy it must have not taken that long to beat them, but that still doesn't explain why it took you so long to come back to m-... to us. I don't want you to lie to me Menma, I want you to tell me the truth. I trust you, so you should trust me too."

Menma stayed silent for what felt like a minute. Her words made him feel a bit guilty and surprised at the same time, 'Where did this side of her come from? Did she inherit Minako's wits somehow?' Menma opened his mouth but before words could come out Nero interrupted and stated, "It seems like you guys are going to talk for awhile, so you guys should go inside first."

They both complied and walked back inside the Uzumaki estate. They were silent on their walk to their sleeping quarters and once presented with the choice between Menma's room and Nozomi's room they chose her room.

They walked inside and they both sat on opposite ends of a furniture set up. Nozomi started tapping her fingers as if she was expressing her nervousness on what she thought he would say. Eventually Menma opened his mouth and said, "The battle wasn't easy at all. It was the most difficult fight I've ever been in. With the help of some illusion like techniques I drew the battle out until sunrise where I managed to beat the last of the 3 brothers. I lost an arm during the fight too, but it came back."

"Was Suigetsu and Mina with you when you fought them?" Menma shook his head and corrected her, "No, I was by myself." Nozomi seemed mostly calm the whole time but now anyone could see something was clearly bothering her. She asked, "Why did you fight them by yourself?"

"Because they were too powerful, I wasn't sure if I could beat them even by myself." Nozomi knew he would say that, but it was still frustrating to hear. She asked him, "Menma, why are you so selfish?"

The question caught Menma completely off guard. He stuttered, "Se-Selfish?!? I fought them by myself because I didn't want them to get hurt! I couldn't stand the thought of them getting hurt or dying because of me!" Nozomi cut him off before he could say anything else, "And you don't think they feel the same way?! They knew what they were getting into when they came with you to this village. If they didn't care about you they wouldn't have come. They're here because they want to make sure you survive and achieve your goal! They couldn't stand the thought of you dying either! So have more faith in your friends and let them help you!

Menma was left speechless and couldn't think of anything to say. 'It's like she's a completely different person than the girl I saved from the Eastern Hideout.' Menma didn't say anything but from his expression Nozomi could tell he accepted his defeat in the argument.

"I'm going to start helping out soon too." Nozomi stated. Menma almost instinctively protested but before he could get any words out she told him, "This may sound silly, but I think I want to help you more than anyone, and my own powerlessness is extremely frustrating. You nearly died earlier because of my own weakness." Menma replied, "But you're still so young"-"I'm 14 Menma, I'm sure you were much stronger when you were 14. But right now I don't think I could beat even a single Hagetaka member in a fight."

Once again Menma remained silent after getting beaten. Nozomi stated, "I'm going with you on your next trip and you can't stop me, so hopefully you'll help me become a lot stronger before that happens."

Menma couldn't help but chuckle at himself. Nozomi was a polite put off by the chuckle and Menma thought, 'This girl...' He looked up at her with a smile and told her, "Alright, you've won. I'll help you become stronger."

Nozomi was surprised by his answer and thought, 'Huh? I actually won?' She started jumping up and down in excitement.

A few minutes later they went outside and Menma seemed more content. Suigetsu was with Mina and Menma walked towards them. He looked back at Nozomi with a "Do I really have too?" look and she nodded. "Hey guys, I just wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting lately. I've been leaving you guys out on a lot of things and I've been going solo. I'll try to keep you guys in the loop of things I'm doing from now on."

Suigetsu and Mina looked at each other and smiled before looking back at him too. Mina responded, "We're sorry too, we should have brought up the fact that it concerned us sooner, but what's done is done, so let's try to stick together from now on." Suigetsu followed up on what she said, "Hopefully these Choetsu techniques will close the gap in our strength."

Nero walked up to Menma and asked him, "So how are things with Nozomi? You were gone for longer than I thought you would be," Menma nodded and stated, "She convinced me to let her train."

"Good, so we can get started then?" Menma answered his question with a nod and everyone formed a semi circle facing Nero's direction while waiting for what he would say. "Alright everyone, I want each of you to tell me what kind of power you're looking for, then I'll give you what you need to develop that."

The question was unexpected, but they all quickly complied and started thinking. Menma was probably thinking the deepest, 'Those 3 brothers were the strongest opponents I've ever fought. And I'm guessing Orochimaru will probably be stronger. The thing that made those 3 so hard to fight was the fact that I needed to come up with multi step plans to land effective attacks on them. Once I could do that they died quickly, but the thing with Orochimaru is that he might as well be immortal. You decapitate him he'll just shed his skin, you burn him alive he'll melt the shell away, you try to crush him his body will stretch and slither around whatever is crushing him. Even If I managed to vaporize his body and suck out his soul he would just emerge anew from a curse mark he placed on someone. I don't know how but he somehow figured out how to split his soul into pieces and place the pieces in curse marks. I'm gonna need something that can somehow counter this.'

Menma felt eyes on the back of his head and looked in the direction he felt the stares from. He noticed Nozomi was staring at him but once they made eye contact she quickly looked away and raised her hands as if to avoid potential questioning. Nero looked at her with a curious look as he awaited for her answer and she told him, "I want to learn about the brain," Nero nodded and asked, "Why do you want to learn that?" Nozomi remained silent for a moment as she decided whether or not to say and decided against it. "I'd rather not say."

Menma was curious about why she wanted to learn about that, but decided not to question her. The next one to raise their hand was Suigestu who stated, "I want to learn more about cells and metals. I'm only really interested in the 7 swordsmen swords so I mainly want to learn about sword related things, but I can learn some things about cells too if it will help me with my liquid form."

After Suigetsu Mina raised her hand and said, "I want to learn about the human body. I'm more of a taijutsu kind of girl rather than one that's interested in ninjutsu, so I want to learn about things I can touch up close."

Nero was pleased with the request and now he was only waiting for Menma's answer. Menma finally came up with what he wanted and stated, "I need something that will let me rewind someone or something to its original state. I need it to be so powerful that even if the pieces were scattered across the world they will all be brought back to one original point."

Nero was impressed by how specific he was, it sounded like he needed an ability meant for one person. Nero turned around and told them, "Follow me."

After following him for a few minutes he walked into a room with a bunch of cabinets and drawers. He opened one of the drawers and started scrolling through folders while taking out one every few documents. Once he pulled out 4 he closed the drawer and turned back towards his students. He handed each one a folder. The front of each of their folders had a different title. Mina's had Anatomy, Suigetsu's had Cytology, Nozomi had Neurobiology, and Menma had Time Dilation.

Besides Anatomy all of these terms were foreign to the group. Suigetsu was the first one to ask, "What is this supposed to be?"

"Why this is your training," Nero replied in a slightly mocking tone as if it was obvious. Nero noticed that the expressions on the 3 of them didn't change and he looked towards Nozomi expectantly after noticing she already caught on. "I talked about this with Nero earlier. I'm sure he told you this already but we need to have an understanding of what we're trying to accomplish before we can develop it."

They all understood now and clear reluctance showed up on their faces. "Going back to the Academy days huh? Well if this is what I have to do to get stronger then I'll do it," Menma accepted.

Memna opened his folder right there and started reading. After about 30 seconds he closed it and looked towards Nero and asked, "What's spacetime?" Nero sighed and said, "Ninjas," under his breath. "Would you guys rather have me give you more folders so you learn the basics or would you guys rather just ask me questions directly?"

In unison they all chose the latter. He nodded but a thought popped into his mind and he said, "Menma, everyone else can ask me questions but I'll just give you more folders."

"Huuuh? Why am I the only one that doesn't get to ask questions?" Nero replied, "You have the sharingan don't you?" Menma nodded and Nero continued, "Well the sharingan let's you memorize anything you see. I'm sure that Time Dilation can apply as anything."

His words silenced Menma. Menma slapped himself on the forehead and thought, 'Why didn't I think of that?' He felt the urge to ask, "Who came up with this anyway?"

"Look at your folder, there should be a name on it." Menma did as he was told and searched the folder until he saw the words "Ainshutain Uzumaki."

He ended up saying it out loud without realizing it and Nero stated, "That's right. While people like Itachi are known for their battle intellect, Ainshutain was known for his intellect in science. A lot of people consider him the smartest man who ever lived!"

Menma didn't say anything but Nero could that something about what he said bothered Menma. Menma asked, "Was he alive when the village was destroyed?" Nero nodded and said, "He was working on his biggest theory but never finished it because of the destruction of our homes."

Menma's thoughts were conflicted at the moment, 'I never gave it much thought, but after hearing all this the Uzumaki clan's destruction gets more and more unbelievable by the moment.' Menma had one last question, "While swimming through some of these pages I noticed that one of them was ripped out. Do you know what happened to it?"

Nero started thinking about it but came up with no answer, "I don't. But just 1 missing page shouldn't be a big deal, If there's a hole in your knowledge once you're finished learning then you can come to me and I'll fill the hole."

Menma nodded and accepted his response but Nozomi looked more suspicious. Nero turned around and started walking away back towards the estate. "You guys can start your training now, I'll be in my room if you need me."

Nozomi jogged after him and shouted, "Wait Nero sensei!" Nero quickly responded, "Do you already have a question about the brain?"

Nozomi shook her head and said, "No, could I talk to you in private?" "Oh, sure."

They both went inside and were out of everyone's line of sight. Menma looked on curiously and thought, 'Wonder where they're going. Should I... no, it's probably nothing.'

"So what did you need, Nozomi?" Nero questioned as they both stopped walking. "That missing paper in Menma's folder, I can tell you're lying about it."

At first Nero was taken aback since he thought he did good at lying, but he quickly replaced his surprise with a smile and told her, "I have a good reason for taking out that page. I didn't take out the page because of Menma, I took it out because of what some people would do if they found out about a certain technique in there. I believe Menma would be one of those people."

Nozomi showed clear confusion and Nero sighed. "Nozomi, do you know how old Menma is?" "17" was her answer. Nero nodded and continued, "Soon he'll be 18. He's only just becoming an adult, but he already has a full head of white hair. Did you ever think about that?"

Nozomi shook her head and Nero stated, "White hair can be gained through 2 ways, either you grow old, or you go through extreme stress. The most famous example of this syndrome comes from a queen that was due for execution, the day before her execution she had blonde hair but when everyone saw her walking towards her death the next day her hair was snow white like Menma's is now. I don't know what happened to Menma, but I can tell based on his mission and the look in his eyes that he'll never forget about what happened. And if he found out about this technique he might try to prevent it from having ever happened. Nozomi still wasn't sure what he was talking about and asked, "Just what is this technique?"

"One of Ainshutains theories was that the faster you go the slower time flows for you. Once you reach the speed of light your speed stops time for you entirely. He also thought that if you went faster than light then time would go backwards, in other words"-"Time travel." Nozomi finished.

Nero smiled again. "Even people with normal backgrounds love the idea of time travel, but when it comes to someone that's had it that bad, it's almost a certainty they'd want to change that... Nozomi, you're really good at catching on to things! If it weren't for Menma's sharingan I think you would be the first to finish their training." Nozomi blushed slightly because of the praise and asked, "What would happen if he went back in time anyway?"

Nero scratched his chin while he thought of an answer. He asked her, "Do you know anything about what Menma experienced?" Nozomi answered, "I asked Mina about it once, she said I was too young to know what happened but she told me it happened a little over 2 years ago."

Nero seemed more sure of himself now and announced, "There are consequences that we're not aware of when It comes to time travel. Let's say I wanted to go back in time and kill my grandfather. Now at this point there are lots of different possibilities you can think of. One of them is that it would be impossible to kill your grandfather. Two is that after you kill him you cease to exist because you were never born if your grandfather died, but if you were never born then you couldn't have ever went back in time to kill your grandfather, so he would live his life like normal, but once you're reborn you'll most likely go down the same road and end up killing him again which would result in a time loop, although that's only an assumption based on logic we don't know what would happen."

"Another situation is if you wanted to go in time and prevent a tragedy. Let's say your parents are dead and you decide to go back in time to prevent their death and you succeed. This is where new possibilities can occur. If the past is changed so that they never die then what motivation would your new self with parents have to go back in time? Would time restore itself and cancel out all of these changes so that your parents still died? Or would it just stay that way resulting in their being a plot hole in time and reality?"

There's one last thing I thought of. This can result in different ways right off the bat. Let's say you want to save yourself from the past from doing something stupid that results in losing an arm. This already seems strange because the future self wouldn't ever have memories of them being saved in the past, so that means the future self never actually time travelled. Now let's say he time travels anyway and meets his past self and saves him from losing an arm, would his future self now become two armed right on the spot? Would he also suddenly have memories of being saved in the past? Would all of his memories of struggling to be one armed disappear? And that's not all, now that the past self has two arms his future self would have never traveled back in time to save his past self. So what happened then? Has the timeline changed? Or maybe a whole new timeline is created? Maybe even"-"Ok ok Nero I get it! You've been going on forever now."

"Oh, sorry. I get carried away when I start sharing my thoughts with people." Nozomi concluded, "So basically you believe time travel to be too dangerous to try out because of the unpredictable consequences. It seems like the worst possible thing is a time loop."

Nero corrected her, "Well there is one more thing that I didn't mention. Another possible outcome is that you would be erased from existence to prevent a paradox like that from happening at all."

The thought of that happening to Menma silenced Nozomi and Nero said, "This is why I don't want the time traveling technique to be revealed. Although I might have to give this paper to him eventually, I'm pretty sure I already know what he wants his technique to be." Nozomi's ears perked up after hearing this and she quickly asked, "What is it." Nero debated with himself whether or not he should tell her and eventually decided against it. "I'm gonna let that be a surprise, but I'm convinced that I'm gonna have to give him this paper eventually... y'know, I actually went back in time myself before."

Hearing this surprised Nozomi and she looked hard at him to see if he was joking or not. He continued, "I traveled back in time, but only by a few minutes where I did nothing, so nothing bad happened. Although I didn't do this particularly to test out time travel, but to test out the functionality of Choetsu techniques and the physics it's teaching. I tried going faster than light with and without the Choetsu technique application"-"You're that fast?!" Nozomi exclaimed.

Nero shook his head and stated, "I'm not that naturally fast. I used the Choetsu technique to go faster than light and ended up going back in time. And to test it without the Choetsu technique application I visited the Raikage and asked him to assist me with it. It took a little convincing but once he was on board I asked him to go as fast as he could, and even though he was going faster than light nothing happened and he stayed within this timeline. That was when I had an epiphany. The reason these techniques are referred to as Choetsu(Transcendent) is because they transcend our realities physics and come from another realities physics. I honestly don't know how our Uzumaki ancestors did it, but they somehow found out how to use another dimensions laws of physics by turning it into ninja techniques!!"

"Physics is surprisingly interesting." Nero nodded and agreed, "Yeah it is... y'know, I was wondering. How old are you?" "I'm 14 right now."

"14 huh? How do you catch on to this stuff so easily? I thought I would have to explain it in further detail but you got on to everything I said without pause." Nozomi looked down as she thought of an answer. She eventually gave him one, "I've always been shy and quiet. I'm used to listening and always letting someone else speak first. It seems nosy but I'm interested in what people say so sometimes I tune out other voices in a crowd and focus on the one I think is talking about the most interesting stuff. Ever since I went through this cat like mutation it's only been easier for me to do these things, and I feel more confident in general." Nozomi blushed at a thought that popped into her head. "At first when I found out about this transformation I went through I thought I was hideous and Menma wouldn't want to look at me, but the first time he saw me after going through the transformation he didn't even acknowledge the cat ears, eyes, and tail. His only expression was one of relief and unconditional love. The feeling of unconditional love felt somewhat familiar, but I didn't know why. Even though he didn't acknowledge it much I felt like he was hiding how he felt about it, so I asked him about it. Do you know what he told me?" Nero shook his head and Nozomi continued, "He said it was cute! That really taught me to look on the bright side of things no matter what!"

Nero smiled after hearing the story and thought out loud, "You two will be inseparable in the future." Nozomi looked at him stunned for a moment. Nero realized what happened and thought, 'Did I say that out loud?' Nozomi's face grew red and she turned away from him shouting, "Wh-what are you talking about?! I admire him deeply! It's not like I love him like that or anything!"

"Oh right, my bad." Was Nero's only response. Nozomi started walking away but stopped and turned around for one last question while the blush on her face was still present, "Hey, I noticed earlier that you said Menma will be 18 soon, just how soon?" Nero answered quickly, "He should be 18 at the end of the month. Right now it's October 16th, so in about 15 days."

Nozomi's cat like eyes dilated and she said to herself, "So we have the same birthday." Nero caught on to what she was trying to say and smiled. "Oh, I see now. Do you want us to prepare a joint birthday for you both?"

Nozomi turned around and blurted out, "J-joint birthday?! You don't have to do anything like that!" Nero nodded and replied, "Got it, joint birthday it is then." Nozomi comically pleaded with him as he started walking away, "Noooo, that's embarrassing!"

While Nozomi and Nero kept on talking Menma was in his room studying Time Dilation. 'Ok, laws of relativity don't seem that bad. I can understand the gravity part. Gravity is distortions in spacetime taking shape because of mass. The heavier the gravity, the slower time passes by. So if lived on a planet right next to a blackhole time would pass by extremely slow for me while it passes by faster everywhere else. In this case an hour on the planet right next to the blackhole would be 7 years on Earth. In a way that's like traveling to the future if you went back to earth after 1 hour.'

Menma reread the last part one more time. 'This part about speed seems strange though. Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much, but apparently speed also affects time. The faster you go, the slower time goes by for you. You also gain mass the faster you go. I don't really get how speed affects time though. I get places faster when I move faster, but that's because I'm traveling faster so it takes a shorter amount of time to cross the distance... I must be overthinking it. So similar to the blackhole example if something went at 99% the speed of light for 5 years straight 36 years would pass for everyone else, and if you went right at the speed of light time would for you would reach 0, in other words it would stop. It seems like gravity has a much bigger effect on time than speed right up until you reach light speed.'

Menma stood up and decided he learned everything he needed to. He was still bothered by the missing page but he dismissed it. 'Ok, so now I know a little bit, but I'm gonna have to learn more. This isn't nearly enough to create the jujitsu I want. I need something that will somehow connect to every part of his soul, but I can't come up with any tangible way to do that.'

Menma started his trek towards Nero's room while thoughts behind physics clouded his mind the whole time.

Nozomi And Nero

"Nozomi, can you do something for me?" Nero asked. Nozomi nodded and Nero continued, "Pretty soon I'm going to give Menma this last piece of paper. A good way to make sure he doesn't try anything is to make sure he values the here and now." Nozomi tilted her head cause she still wasn't sure what he meant. "What are you getting at?"

"I need you to spend more time with Menma for his sake. He'd already think about the risk of time travel, but then he'd also have to think about the people he's leaving behind." Nozomi answered quickly, "Ok, I'll do it."

Nero was a little surprised. "Oh really? You accepted spending time with Menma fast." Nozomi blurted out, "Don't get the wrong idea!!"

Before their conversation could proceed any further Menma walked in on them. "Were you two talking about something?" Nozomi quickly shook her head and walked past him. "It's ok, we already finished... also Menma, can you come by my room when you're finished?"

Menma replied, "Yeah of course," Nozomi closed the door and Menma walked towards Nero with his folder in his hand. "Nero, I finished everything, but it wasn't enough. I need to learn more."

Nero nodded and handed him some folders. Menma counted them and there were three. They were named General Relativity, Light particles, and Quantum Entanglement. Just like earlier all of the terms were unfamiliar to him and Nero stated, "Read these and you'll learn more about light and Ainshutains most popular theory of e=mc."

Menma nodded and quickly left the room. Once Menma left Nero was left by himself, or at least he thought. He walked towards his bed and sat down, but before he could do anything else he sensed eyes staring at him from his window.

His eyes quickly came into contact with another pair of eyes belonging to an old man. The old man seemed to belong to a higher class judging by his outfit, but judging by his aura he had a lot more physical power than any man of the upper class.

Nero opened his mouth to ask a question but before he could the man cut him off, ""Who are you and how did you get all the way up here? Not even an elite ninja could get past all the sensors undetected." Is that what you were going to say?"

Nero remained silent and the man continued, "You have nothing to fear, if I meant harm everyone here would be long dead. My name is Adonai, I just wanted to give you some reassurance."


	27. Chapter XXVIII: Orochimaru and Menma

It's been a few months but I've finally returned and I think I'm ready to start writing again. The quality of my writing should be better from now on. My memory is fuzzy on some things so tell me if I do something inconsistent

"My name is Adonai. I've come to give you some reassurance. I can guarantee that Menma won't try to go to the past."-Adonai.

Nero eased up a little and asked, "Just what is your relationship with Menma?" Adonai responded, "Think of me like a guide, I've been watching over him ever since he came to this village. I'm going to ensure that he takes down all of the threats on his journey."

Nero peered his eyes at the elderly man before him, his overwhelming support for Menma almost seems suspicious. Nero decided to ask him something else, "So I'm curious. Just what exactly are you?"

Adonai gave him a knowing grin as if he knew he would ask him that. He stretches out his hand for Nero to grab it. Adonai's warning presence made Nero feel a strange sense of tranquility and he gave him his hand. All of a sudden the room around them changed to what seemed to be the cosmos. Around him he saw nebulas, stars, planets, and the black space that stretched out of his sight infinitely. Adonai asked him, "What do you think we're looking at right now?"

Nero got over his shock and rubbed his neck curious as to how he was breathing. "I just granted you the ability to breath in space, that's all." Nero finally answered his question, "This is the universe."

Adonai corrected him, "Correction, this is my universe, one of an infinite amount." Nero's eyes widened as he suddenly realized who he was speaking to. He blurted out, "You are"- he was cut off by a finger to his mouth. "Correct."

Nero looked back towards the cosmos and started going over it over and over in his head before he finally asked, "Out of all the people in your multiverse, why did you choose to help Menma? Do you have a goal in mind?"

Adonai quickly responded with, "Someone that is part of a polytheistic mythology I created has decided to meddle in the lives of your people. In this whole universe there's no group of people that have more energy than yours, and he wants to add that to his own power. So right now your world is in a cycle where if anyone dies they'll go directly to him and there souls will be sucked dry till they're no more."

Nero was suddenly angered, "Why don't you do something about it then?!" Adonai gave him a solemn look, "As God I have my own rules I'm bound by. I don't like seeing my children suffer, but a God can only create, they cannot interfere with what they've already created, I can only destroy it or make very small changes. That's why I want Menma, I know that he's capable of a job similar to my own, and someone that is created by God or becomes one can interfere with whatever they wish."

Nero calmed down, "Humans love the idea of becoming God, when in reality God has less free will than humans... alright Adonai, I'll give the missing page to Menma." Adonai nods and sends him back.

Nero returned to the now empty room he was in just a minute ago and he reached in his pocket and pulled out the last piece of paper that was missing from the folder. He exits the room and starts heading towards Nozomi's room since that's where Menma said he would be.

Once he arrived at the door he stopped right outside of it as he heard something. "Try not to think about it, I'm just helping however way I can." Nozomi replied, "Fine, but-but don't get the wrong idea f-from this!" Nero opened the door and was surprised at the sight he saw. It looks like Menma is helping Nozomi put a bra on. Everyone is left speechless as they all stare at each other until Nozomi screams at the top of her lungs and Mina and Suigetsu arrive quickly. Menma quickly tries to defuse the situation as Suigetsu and Mina give the same look. "I know what you're thinking but it isn't what it looks like!"-Menma.

All three of them nod and Nero says, "Yes we understand what's happening." Menma lets out a relieved sigh and says "I'm glad you understand," Suigetsu says, "Yeah we understand, you're trying to get a piece of her before you turn 18." Menma quickly blurts out "THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M DOING AT ALL!!!" Mina quickly gasps, "You're gonna keep on doing it even after you're 18? Didn't know you were into that Menma." Nozomi but in this time, "That's not what's happening at all!! It's just that... I've been growing recently and I'm not used to a bra yet, so I needed help putting it on," Nozomi states shyly.

The three of them quickly erased the misunderstanding from their mind and their dirty thoughts disappeared. Nero asked, "Ah I see, shouldn't you have Mina do that thought? Menma is a guy so he might get some ideas... you know," Menma was gonna say something but Nozomi spoke first, "Menma is completely trustworthy! He'd never do something so provocative, he's not Suigetsu." This caused everyone except Suigetsu to giggle, "Hey why am I getting attacked now?"

Nero steps towards them, "Well it's alright, I just came here to give you something, Menma." Nero hands Menma a folded piece of paper and his eyes open slightly when he opens it. "This is..." Nero finishes for him, "This is the missing page from the folder. This should help you come up with the technique you need. Sorry that I kept it from you."

Menma thanked him and they all left the room. Menma sighed and looked back at Nozomi and told her, "It was nice to just sit down and talk for once, but I should finish my work now." Nozomi waved bye as he left and asked him, "Menma... can you come here for breakfast in the morning too?" Menma just smiled and nodded before continuing his travel back to his room.

Menma arrived at his room and sat on his bed. He started thinking, 'Hmmm, I wonder what Nozomi would think of my normal way of fighting, now that I think about how she's never seen me in a fight before... speaking of fights, those 3 brothers I fought were strange. Just like Kabuto they were completely loyal to him without being threatened in some way, but they seemed much more pure-hearted than Kabuto. Almost like...'

Northern Hideout

Due to these 3 sons of his, he's once again feeling emotions he's never felt before. He suspected it was grief he was feeling. Although he got one thing wrong, he felt these emotions, although these memories were suppressed. Orochimaru didn't really care about the past but he decided to try and remember against his better judgment.

After digging through his own head for what seemed like hours he finally remembered what he had buried in the deep recesses of his mind since he was 11.

Orochimaru's Secret Past

10 year old Orochimaru has been living in a more poor part of Konoha, but he was still happy, most of the time that is. He walked down a street and sat on a bench at a park as he looked at the other kids playing. His small dog Aoimaru came out of his kimono and he giggled a little as he started petting it. He couldn't really play with the other kids, the ghost white skin and snake like eyes scared other kids. Although this made him a perceptive observer of life, he could soon read people just from a single action they do.

There were some kids that verbally bullied him, and he could read their motive behind the action. Sometimes it was the case of a lack of attention due to not having any standout features and/or needing some sense of validation. It could also just be the way someone decides to enjoy their time, sometimes they're too oblivious to realize what they're doing. There is a 3rd type of person but he hasn't seen it in anyone but one person. He was a social outcast, but he had his dog. At least this is how it was when he wasn't home.

When he got home he had a father who fit the criteria for the third type of person. And that type of person is the one that hurts people for no real reason, it's just because they can. Orochimaru couldn't read his own father, all he knew was that his father was disgusted by him.

Orochimaru has been keeping his dog a secret from his dad as a fear from how he would react. It had been working for a week until his dog followed him home one day. His father asked him, "Is this your dog?" Orochimaru stayed silent and kept his head down, he didn't want to respond in fear of what might happen next. His father slammed his hand on the desk and asked him the same question again, "Is this your dog?"

Orochimaru only nodded in response. He could sense a build up in his father's chakra and he realized what was gonna happen, but before he could stop what would happen it was too late and his father swiftly killed it in one strike. It was a single clean blow. Orochimaru naturally started screaming and crying and all his father said was, "We're poor, I don't need a leech like you bringing in more leeches to make us even more poor."

Orochimaru's screams of grieve quickly turned to anger and he rushed towards his father to attack him? His father grinned and kicked him right in the gut, before slamming his face back down into the floor. "That's the spirit, attack me like a man!"

Orochimaru's anger quickly subsided and his father noticed this and let him go with a disappointed look. He started walking away but his son asked, "How?" His father turned his head back in his direction and responded with, "Huh?" Orochimaru with anger still on his face continued, "How can you act like this all the time?!? You're supposed to be my dad! All you do is punch, kick, choke, and throw me! And if you aren't beating me you're verbally putting me down! What did I do to deserve this?! Is it because of the way I look?!? I DIDN'T ASK TO BE THIS WAY!! Why can't you just love me!?! I did nothing wrong! I haven't given you trouble, I've stayed out of your way, I don't even eat much to preserve food, I've done everything myself because you told me not to be a bother for people, and I'm trying to get good grades so I can guarantee I'll make a lot of money! So how dad??! How can you be this way?!" Orochimaru finally finished and he was breathing heavily with tears flowing down his face. His father just looked at him with a blank expression before walking away.

Orochimaru's head fell and he picked up his dog with the intent of burying him. Once again Orochimaru was left alone. His only light in life now was his mom, she was the only other person that really loved him. Orochimaru cradled in his mom's arms later that night. As Orochimaru cried he asked his mom, "Mom, why is dad like this? Why can't he just love me like you?"

His mom was wondering what she should say, she eventually answered, "I regret getting with that man, even before we got together I could sense there was something wrong with him, but I couldn't see the signs at the time... your father's horrible, don't pay attention to him, soon we'll be able to get away from him."

Orochimaru looked up at his mom and asked, "Really?" His mom nodded in response and said, "He treats me worse than you... I don't know what I would do without you, don't listen to what your father says about being useless and a bother to the world. You're the only thing that's been keeping me going this whole time." Orochimaru smiles and says, "I don't think I've done all that"- But his mom cuts him off and kisses his forehead. She whispers in his ear "You're my light, don't ever forget that. Just bear with it a little longer, this torment we've been going through will be over soon."

Orochimaru's 11th birthday came around two days later and his father surprisingly wanted to take him somewhere. He got a boat and they both went out onto a lake. Orochimaru was smarter than most children his age, but as a child he has a natural naive hope that his father is good in some way, and he also believed he was starting to like him now.

They stopped rowing and his father looked into the water and told him, "You should learn to swim." Orochimaru gave him a questioning look. His father sighed and said, "Did I stutter? You want to be more useful don't you? Well then you should learn to swim. The best way is experience. Orochimaru tried to protest but his father got frustrated and picked him up before tossing him into the water. Orochimaru was already having difficulties and he wasn't making any progress at all. Water got in his mouth and he begged his father to help him but he simply stared at him like he was waiting for him to save himself. Eventually Orochimaru lost his strength and started losing consciousness, as he started falling deeper and deeper into the water he saw his father sigh in disappointment before rowing away. It was at this moment he realized that his father isn't someone that can be saved, he's a psychopath with no regard for rules that only believes in doing what you want.

When Orochimaru woke back up he coughed out water and heard a voice, "Are you okay?" He looked towards the voice and saw a white haired boy the same age as him with mostly gray clothes, long white hair, and a red mark under each eye. Orochimaru stared at him in silence. The boy blushed a little and he asked again, "Yooooo, are you okay?"

Orochimaru nodded his head and the boy smiled and asked, "What's your name miss?" Orochimaru got confused for a second and told him, "I'm a boy." Jiraiya froze for a whole minute as his brain processed what he just heard. His blush eventually disappeared and he reeled back screaming, "Y-You're a boy??? You're prettier than Tsunade-chan!" Jiraiya also realized he performed CPR by pressing his lips on another boy. He quickly started trying to rub it off his lips in a comical manner.

Orochimaru tilted his head and asked, "Who's that?" Jiraiya shook his head and regained his composure. "Nevermind, that's not important. How did you end up here?" Orochimaru's head fell as he remembered what happened. Remembering it caused him to cry which worried Jiraiya and made him a little more serious. Jiraiya put a hand on Orochimaru's shoulder and asked again, "Hey, what happened?"

Orochimaru shook his head because he didn't want to be trouble for other people. He struggled to stand up and he replied with, "It's nothing." Jiraiya grabbed his wrist and asked the same question a third time, "How did this happen to you?"

Orochimaru wasn't sure how he should respond, he wasn't used to having anyone besides his mother really care about his struggles. Orochimaru sat back down and started explaining everything to him. "Today is my 11th birthday, I wasn't expecting my father to do anything for me because he doesn't care about me. The only things he's referred to me as is boy... but today he invited me out to this lake, I thought he was gonna start being a good father, but..." Orochimaru started balling up as his eyes started welling up. He clenched his fist and finished, "He just took me out here to drown me, he made it sound like swimming practice."

Jiraiya for the first time in his life felt genuine anger, but he swallowed it up and stood up and stretched out his hand. Jiraiya told him, "Well why don't I give you a birthday to remember?" Orochimaru looked at him with a confused look. Jiraiya elaborated, "Your day has been horrible so far, a birthday should always be something you look back on as a fond memory. So let me make this the best birthday you've ever had!"

Orochimaru stopped crying and accepted his hand. He smiled and whispered, "Thank you." Jiraiya's smile widened and he replied, "No problem, It's my pleasure. Oh yeah, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Jiraiya, what's yours?" Orochimaru answered, "My name is Orochimaru."

"Wow, that's a cool name! Well c'mon friend! We should get going so we can do as much as possible!" Jiraiya announced. Orochimaru stayed frozen for a minute processing what he just heard as Jiraiya started walking ahead. 'Did he say... friend?' Orochimaru thought. Jiraiya stopped walking and looked back at Orochimaru. He asked, "What are you waiting for?" Orochimaru snapped out of it and started following Jiraiya with a smile, "I'm coming!" Jiraiya didn't know this, but this was already the best day of Orochimaru's life.

They went ahead and did a lot of things, they went to restaurants, played games, they even met Tsunade at one point. Although all good things must come to an end and Orochimaru eventually had to go back home. They 3 of them finished the game of tag they were playing and Orochimaru said, "It's getting really late, I should probably go back home now."

He started leaving but Jiraiya stopped and proposed, "How about you sleep over at my place?" Orochimaru stuttered, "A s-sleepover?" Jiraiya nodded and Orochimaru thought about it. Jiraiya continued, "When I said I wanted to make this the best day of your life I was talking about all 24 hours of the day, We can continue the fun if you come over!"

Orochimaru thought about it and eventually nodded. Jiraiya beamed with happiness. He walked over to Tsunade and said, "You should come too! It'll be more fun that way!" Tsunade reeled back a little. She replied, "Sleepover at your place? You might try something in my sleep!"

Orochimaru laughed and Jiraiya gained a slightly serious expression and simply said, "Please." Tsunade stayed silent for a moment before giving in and saying, "Alright then. Orochimaru, make sure he doesn't try anything while I sleep, alright?" Orochimaru nodded, not being sure what she meant.

They all went to Jiraiya's house and they did things like playing more games, listening to Jiraiya's stories, and other things. Jiraiya finished off his last story with, "And that's how I beat someone even the 7th Hokage couldn't!" Tsunade had a look of confusion the entire time he told the story while Orochimaru had a look of awe. Tsunade blurted out, "You idiot! There isn't even a 3rd Hokage yet! What do you mean 7th?!?" Jiraiya scratched the back of his head and replied with, "I had a dream about it. I'm sure that it was a precognitive dream so technically it was true."

Tsunade still had a confused look on her face and huffed while whispering to herself, "What an idiot." Orochimaru laughed at their little squabble. Jiraiya yawned and announced, "Well I'm tired, I guess we should sleep now.

Orochimaru's day was finally over, Orochimaru started to look back on everything that happened today. Jiraiya was about to turn off the lights, but he noticed Orochimaru was crying. "Is there a problem Orochimaru?" Tsunade blurted out. Orochimaru shook his head and smiled, "No... I think these are happy tears. Orochimaru started performing the most respectful form of the bow. The Zarei bow. He stated, "Thank you, for everything... both of you! This really has been the best day of my life!"

Tsunade wasn't sure how to respond so she just smiled like Jiraiya. That day was the first and last time Orochimaru felt true happiness.

In the morning Orochimaru headed towards his house and the air already felt ominous. He walked inside and looked around but no one was home. However he did see blood on the floor, the blood led outside. He started following the trail.

The trail was long, he felt more and more uneasy as he continued following the path of blood. Although eventually the blood stopped and he looked around. Far off he saw a ditch, he walked towards the ditch and what he found left him in an indescribable state.

He found his mother's torn up dead body in the ditch, and from the looks of it she died just recently. Orochimaru had a breakdown. He started breathing heavily, he got on his knees cause his legs felt like Jelly, and his eyes were as wide as possible. He instinctively started screaming and wailing as tears flooded out of his eyes like flood gates. He didn't know how long he was there, he cried so much that his eyes were dry and he felt dehydrated, and he screamed so much that he couldn't make a sound anymore and he felt like his vocal cords were permanently damaged. Some time in the middle of all his screaming he couldn't hear anything anymore.

Eventually he stopped and came back to reality. An emotionless expression coated his face and he started walking back home. Once he arrived there he saw a woman walking out of his house. Judging off the way she looked and her eyes he could tell what happened. He walked up behind her and tapped on her back.

She turned around looking at the child and he asked her, "What is your relationship with my dad?" She laughed him off and just said, "Go back home kid." But before she could leave he gripped her by the throat and brought her down to his level. He unconsciously learned something that the academy didn't teach him about chakra, and that was how to produce killing intent. He released all of this on her and the terror it caused her to feel made her submit instantly. "He's just a work partner! And he's been flirting with me for a long time and he finally made a move and I couldn't resist!" Orochimaru peered his eyes and asked, "Did you know he was married?" The woman shook her head and Orochimaru was satisfied with his answer and he let her go. She didn't waste her chance and she started running away instantly. As she was running Orochimaru told her, "Tell your boss that he quit his job."

Orochimaru started heading back in the direction of his house. He looked at his hand under the moonlight and he thought about just how easy it would have been to kill her, although killing for no reason is something he never wants to do.

He reached his home and walked inside. He found his father in the kitchen and his dad saw him. Orochimaru asked him directly, "Why did you kill mom?" His father found his reaction off putting but he answered nonetheless, "Well when you didn't come home she was irate and wouldn't stop yelling at me, she even attacked me at some point, so I had to put her down. Although it seems like you survived, so good job... son. Are you finally a real man now?" Orochimaru gritted his teeth and was seething with anger. He asked him, "Why would you kill her over something as petty as that?!"

His father sighed and told him, "It's not something you would be able to understand. Once you become a man you'll understand perfectly. Now c'mon, don't get so emotional about it. Showing emotions is just a sign of weakness. Aren't you supposed to be a ninja?"

Orochimaru had enough of this and charged in to attack him with all his built up wrath. The first time he attacked him he didn't know how to utilize chakra, but Tsunade helped him with that so now he has a fighting chance. He charged right at his father. His father was expecting it to go just like last time, but both he and Orochimaru were surprised when Orochimaru landed a punch before his father could react. Although Orochimaru didn't stay shocked for long and he instantly started assaulting his father with blows over and over, it was the best feeling ever. His father tried to match blows with him but his punches were either too weak to pass his chakra defense or Orochimaru dodged his strikes.

Eventually he collapsed but he grinned, "Well look at you, go ahead kill me already. I'm glad you're becoming a man just like I wanted! One who will do whatever they want and"- he was cut off when Orochimaru punched him in the throat which made him struggle to breath. Orochimaru stated, "Don't misunderstand what killing you means. The world is better off without you, and I'm not killing a human, I'm killing a monster." Those were Orochimaru's last words before he let out all of his anger and started assaulting his father's face with blow after blow. He yelled the whole time and he didn't know he long he assaulted him. He forgot at which point that his dad stopped struggling as he straddled his motionless body while assaulting it. He punched him till his hands were broken and his father's face was no more.

Outside of Orochimaru's house was Hiruzen who was gonna arrive after Jiraiya pleaded with him. When Hiruzen walked in he was horrified by the sight he saw and he put the pale boy in the room to sleep. Orochimaru's last thought before falling into a deep slumber that would last a week was, 'Human life really is fragile, it can be snuffed out so easily. Even I can be a victim to this.'

The next year a 12 year old Orochimaru was visiting his parents grave. A lot has happened since then and Orochimaru had forgotten all about the events of his life before meeting Hiruzen. His mind blocked them out to prevent Orochimaru from becoming broken, but it still left a mark on his psyche. Before leaving his parents grave he saw a white snake slither by. It somehow reminded him of fortune and rebirth, and this has developed his life goal.

Northern Hideout

Orochimaru smirked as he remembered everything that happened in his life. Orochimaru said to himself, "That really was the best day of my life... maybe everything I've been doing has been..."

Pokanto Mountain The Next Day

Menma opened the door to Nozomi's room and saw her silhouette behind a folding screen. She poked her head out to see who it was and smiled when she saw Menma. "What's that you got there?" She asked. Menma sat down the food on a coffee table and answered, "You wanted me to come here for breakfast so I brought food for both of us."

Nozomi finished getting dressed and stepped out from behind the folding screen. Her mouth watered a little seeing the food. "How did you know what my most favorite food was?" She asked ogling at the perfectly made waffles on a plate as her tail involuntarily twitched slightly.

Menma simply replied, "I went through your diary about a week ago." Nozomi reeled back in surprise. "You went through my stuff!? Ahh! Idiot! Jerk! Pervert!" Menma wasn't sure how to react as she hurled insults at him so he maintained a shocked expression. Eventually he just chuckled a little and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I just wanted to get to know you better," he told her with an unintentionally charming expression.

She stopped hurling Insults and blushed. She looked away and stuttered out in a low tone, "You can just-just come to me directly i-if you want to know more about me." She thought to herself, 'The way Menma's been acting has been making me feel strange.' It was Menma's turn to blush this time as he thought, 'It's been awhile since I've had this feeling.'

Nozomi looked back at Memna and noticed he was blushing which just made her blush harder and she looked down. She never saw Menma blush before and she started playing with her hands. She whispered in a nearly inaudible tone, "D-don't stare at me like that." Menma had only one thing on his mind at this moment, 'How can something this cute possibly exist?!?' Menma passed out.

Nozomi quickly rushed to his side. "Menma?!" She shook him for a while but he wouldn't wake up. She gave up and she heard a knock on the door. She announced, "Come in," and the door slid open to reveal Mina. The scene looked questionable and a little shady to her since Nozomi was sitting on an unconscious Menma.

But she quickly cleared it up, "It's not what it looks like! He said something embarrassing and after I replied he just passed out and I've been trying to wake him up, but he won't wake up." Mina made a o with her mouth. "Ah, I think I get it now, can you show me what you did before he passed out?" Mina asked.

Nozomi wasn't sure why she asked but she tried to get into the same position. She had one arm under her chest with her hand on the other arm under her mouth, she looked down at the ground and blushed again. She repeated, "D-don't stare at me like that." Mina, just like Menma before her had only one thought on her mind, 'How can something this cute possibly exist?!?' Although unlike Menma she didn't pass out. She couldn't resist blushing. 'The cat ears, the tail, the cute cat eyes, the naturally beautiful face! I believe I've discovered peak cuteness, even Menma couldn't resist this!'

Mina got out of her trance and cleared her throat, "He's fine, he was just knocked out from your uhhhh. Cuteness." Nozomi involuntarily blushed once again that day. "I knew he was a pervert!" Was Nozomi's reply. Mina chuckled and picked up Menma's body. "You're such a tsundere," Mina stated. Nozomi quickly blurted out, "Huuuuh? I'm no such thing! I don't like Menma, he's just handsome, and caring, and kind... and uhhh..." the knowing grin on Mina's face annoyed Nozomi. Nozomi let out a frustrated groan and told her, "I can't think of anything negative about him... just go!"

Mina left and took Menma to his room. She sat with him until he woke up and Menma remembered everything. Mina told him, "Menma... you have an opportunity presented before you that you shouldn't waste... you should try to put love before hate. Your goal is important but you should try to find happiness before this unhealthy obsession consumes you... if it comes to that you won't be able to be normal again."

Menma remained silent and Mina left the room. He thought, "So... it's to put Nozomi first, or continue down my current path.' He chuckled to himself. 'I should have known that getting as close with her as I did would cause this.'

Menma knew what he felt, but he tried to forget it. And in a strange form of reluctance he picked up the folders he still hasn't read, and began studying them.


	28. Chapter XXIX: Love And Hate

You're about to get hit with real life physics so prepare.

2 Weeks Until The Joint Birthday

Menma closes the last of his folders and stands up from his desk. "I know how it's going to work, now all I have to do is test it out on something fitting."

Menma walked out into the open training grounds, he noticed it was raining but it wasn't too heavy. He thought no one else was out there, but he saw Suigetsu testing out what he learned from his folders on cells. He observed and saw Suigetsu turn his arm into water.

Everything was completely normal and exactly what he expected, but then Suigetsu's water arm grew 20 times its original size. Menma was impressed and curious as to how he did that. The closest he's seen to Suigetsu showing off such a feat was when he redirected the water in his body towards his arm to make it grow in size. Although the size of the arm that Suigetsu created was many times the size of his own body, so he didn't think it was water based.

He decided he would question him about it later and started trying to work on his own ability. Menma rehearsed everything to himself out loud for it to make the most sense, "Alright, so as you get closer to the speed of light both your mass and the energy required to move that mass increase. I can move at light speed just fine so that's not a problem, and once I'm right below light speed my mass and energy become infinite. Then anything I hit while moving that fast is going to start moving that fast. The closer my speed gets to light the slower time goes by for me. Once I reach light speed then time should stop for me, and then going above that should theoretically let me go back in time. I'm only going to be going right below light speed while he'll be far above it, so I'll be fine while his soul will have that affect placed on it."

Menma smirked and continued, "Alright, this is pretty simple. Now using what I learned in the Quantum Entanglement folder there was something called Quantum Coupling. It had to do with two things being connected to each other and doing something to one thing will affect the other thing in the same way no matter how far away they are from each other. Now doing this with a soul probably wouldn't work since that only happens with particles, so I'd need a way to avoid the laws of physics for that too... alright, so once I figure out a way to deal with connecting the different pieces of his soul he's spread throughout the world the plan will work. I'll hit him while going below light speed, his soul will start moving at infinite speed making it go back in time while it's entangled to the other pieces of his soul, so since they're all going back in time they'll eventually return to a state where they were all one!" Menma started feeling pumped since his plan was coming together. Now he just needed to figure out how to actually put it into use.

Once that thought came to mind he felt less motivated and he dropped to the ground. Suigetsu walked over to him then slightly bent over and asked, "Are you having problems coming up with a technique?"

Menma stood up and cleared up his misconception, "No I already have the technique down. I just need a way to get around some of the laws of physics behind it."

Suigetsu nodded and replied, "You remember what Nero told us the other day right? About restrictions?" Menma looked slightly confused at first but the memory came back to him. "Ohhhh yeah, he did bring that up!"

Suigetsu stood straight up and offered a hand to Menma. He took it and once they were both standing Suigetsu walked about 5 meters from Menma and showed off the ability he was practicing earlier. He started explaining how it worked, "The reason I can make my arm so big this way is because I'm duplicating my cells at an extremely high rate. Naturally the problem with this is that when cells have divided enough times they stop dividing and reach a state called senescent. That's because telomeres on the ends of chromosomes get smaller every time cells divide, eventually they can't get any smaller so that's why they stop. I just have to ensure that they don't get any smaller when I'm using this technique. This technique isn't particularly a difficult thing to do nor a very powerful technique. So I just have to sacrifice a bigger amount of chakra than usual."

Menma understood now, "Ahhhh, that makes sense! Thanks Suigetsu!" A smug expression appeared on Suigetsu's face and he chuckled, "Hehe, I'll be here if you need anymore help. Soon you'll be calling me your senpai." Menma shutted him down fast, "Don't go that far, you probably asked Nero about all that." Suigetsu felt exposed and just said "Ah shut up," in a friendly way.

Menma went back to his training, but a realization fell upon him. "My technique is a lot more complicated and higher scale than Suigetsu's," a troubled look appeared on Menma's face. His eyes narrowed as he remembered that it utilizes infinite energy. "It would have to be something extremely valuable. Although... I'm only using infinite energy, not making it since I can already naturally do that, so it shouldn't be something of infinite value... what should I make it?"

While Memna pondered about what he wanted to sacrifice Nero walked up to him. Menma didn't notice him until he was tapped on the shoulder. Nero asked him, "How's your progress going?"

Menma told him, "It's going great, I'm learning things a lot faster than I thought I would... although there has been something else that's been troubling me..."

"Something really just doesn't seem right about how the Uzumaki's were exterminated. They could pull off things like this but somehow nations that we don't even know the name of were able to destroy them all. It just doesn't make sense!"

Nero smirked a knowing grin and made a "come closer" sign to Menma. Menma leaned in and Nero whispered in his ear, "I've been wondering the same thing. Also don't you think it's suspicious how Kiritsugu sensei is an outlier out of the people who survived the Uzumaki genocide? Out of the five Uzumaki's that survived the genocide being Nagato, Karin, Kushina your mother, me, and my sensei. He was the only one who was in the village while it was being destroyed. At the time he was in his 50s when this happened, when our clan were in the prime of their existence we only got better with age, so he would have been one of the ones on the front lines. And yet he managed to be the lone survivor yet he's quite lacking in scars. Doesn't this all seem strange to you?"

Menma's eyes widened when he came to the realization of what Nero was trying to tell him. He almost blurted it out but Nero put a finger up to his lips and made a shush sound with his mouth. Menma regained composure and he whispered it this time, "You're thinking that Kiritsugu helped in their extermination?" Nero grinned again and replied, "I'm glad that you catch on fast. Anyways it could just be a coincidence, but considering how much we know they're capable of it doesn't seem likely that they could have been taken down any other way."

Menma asked him, "How long have you known this?" Nero fell silent for a moment as his head dropped. "I've known about it for a couple years. I read his mind and figured it out." He clenched his fist and continued, "The way you feel about Orochimaru is similar to the way I felt about him... I hated him for taking away such a fantasy of a life away from me. Sometimes I wish he just left me to die there..."

Menma felt frustratingly confused now and he asked, "Well why didn't you kill him then?!? You're just gonna let him get away with being responsible for the deaths of all our people!?" Nero unclenched his fist and started smiling, "I know what you're saying Menma... I really wanted to for a while, although I understood his reason for doing it. Even if the 5 Kage at the time teamed up against the clan they wouldn't have been able to defeat them. Their abilities were too versatile and they were too powerful compared to everyone else. They had started planning something not too different from the Uchiha coup. They were allies with Konoha, but they didn't like the other 4 nations. If they were apart of the 3rd Great Ninja War it would have all been over in just a few days, and with how corrupt Konoha was at the time they would have potentially turned into something that resembles a facist state."

Menma remained silent as he too didn't think Kiritsugu's motivation was a bad reason. Nero continued, "Even then I still wanted to kill him, but at the time I didn't have anything else to live for, someone to care for, a shoulder to lean on, so if I killed him I would have been lost. And on top of that killing him wouldn't have really changed anything since everything was already said and done. Even if I put it into words, it isn't something someone could really understand unless they had the same mindset."

One thing that Nero said stuck with Menma. 'Something else to live for, huh?' Nero noticed that it looked like Menma lost focus. Menma burst out laughing. Nero was caught off guard by this, and once Menma finished laughing he stated, "Something else to live for? How could I not take notice of something so simple?" Menma smiled continued while looking down, "Why couldn't I notice sooner? Naruto would have realized this from the start... I'vebeen so consumed in my hate for Orochimaru that I've lost sight of what matters." Nero patted him on the shoulder and they both walked inside. Nero thought to himself, 'Suigetsu, Mina, Nozomi, I saved him from vengeance.'

As Nero said It wasn't something that could truly be put into words. But from one man to another that have both craved vengeance from the depths of their hearts, there were no words needed for them to understand the depth behind the words of "living for something else." What may come off as simple to most was something that held so much more weight for them when they grasped the full picture most could not.

Northern Hideout

Orochimaru stayed in his room doing nothing but thinking about his life the whole day. Those three foster children offered him the chance to grow a conscience again. Calling him their father set off a spark in his head that slowly unraveled his repressed memories and emotions. It was still all too unfamiliar to him due to how soon it happened. Although all of it has been making him question his actions he's been following through with these past years.

He became like this after losing his memory. But the thought process he was left of came in fruition due to how fragile he realized life was before losing his memories. It was so easy for people to die, and he tried to avoid how easy it was to die by becoming immortal, and in the process he killed hundreds of people. But by growing a conscience and regaining his memories he had come to the realization that he was exactly the type of person he was running away from. Someone with no concern for life just like how his father was. Completely absorbed by self interest. At his current level of skill and power he could live a peaceful life without being killed by anyone. When he realized all of this everything he's been doing over these years started to feel pointless.

Orochimaru was hesitant but he decided to disband his gang indefinitely. He said he would call them back if he ever changed his mind. Although at the mind he didn't see the point in continuing things.

Pokanto Mountain

Nozomi rolled around in her bed and thought, 'Learning about how the brain works was surprisingly easy. I originally wanted to learn how to read memories but I also learned about how to manipulate emotions so that's a plus... now, who's mind should I read? Coming up with a restriction was pretty easy so it should be a piece of cake.' Her thoughts were interrupted when Mina entered her room. Nozomi's eyes lit up at the opportunity and he instantly read her mind.

Once she figured what she was going to try to talk about she instantly jumped up her strategy to escape. Mina noticed the urgency on Nozomi's and her eyes narrowed. She thought, 'Does she already know what I plan on doing? Maybe she chose the study of brains to read minds.' Mina involuntarily grinned. 'Maybe she learned it to read Menma's mind.'

Nozomi started panicking more, 'She knows that I know what she's thinking! Quick! I have to think of something!' Mina opened her mouth to start talking but Nozomi cut her off while stuttering, "Uh, M-Mina! Before we start talking can you get my kimono over there? I don't have m-much on under these sheets."

"Hm? Oh, sure." Mina turned around in the direction where Nozomi pointed and as soon as she did Nozomi already tried bolting past her at top speed, but Mina anticipated this and quickly grabbed her. 'Lying about not having any clothes on isn't very appealing for a lady, Nozomi." Mina released her and Nozomi pouted, "I studied brains all the way through and then I'm the one getting my mind read?! What's up with that???"

Mina giggled and replied, "Well because of my past I can tell what people are thinking from their facial expressions pretty easily. Based on how you were acting is it fair to assume that you already know why I came here?"

Nozomi didn't respond and Mina took that as a yes. She continued, "Nozomi, you're going to have a joint birthday. You should open up more and"-"No way!!! I already tried that yesterday and he only revealed his perverted intentions!" Nozomi spouted waving her hands in front of her face.

Mina noticed that her words told a different story from her body as she tried to hide her blush. "Is that so? Well I guess you're right, I'm going to call off the joint birthday party then," Nozomi was caught off guard by Mina's sudden response. She quickly blurted out, "W-wait! You don't have to cancel the party! I still want to have it!" Mina grinned with her back facing Nozomi so she couldn't see it.

She put on a straight face and turned back around towards Nozomi. "Oh really? Why do you still want to have the joint birthday if you're so disinterested in Menma?" Nozomi was stumped, she couldn't come up with a response. She started stuttering as her brain raced through different ways to respond, "I... I... I..." Nozomi's face became redder and redder as each moment passed by. Mina advanced further, "Say, Nozomi. Do you dislike Menma in any way?" Nozomi naturally responded, "Not at all!"

Another smirk appeared on Mina's face. This time she couldn't hide it from Nozomi. Nozomi thought to herself, 'Damn this woman and her manipulative skills! She's making me say weird things I don't want to think about!' Mina decided to stop and chose to be more direct. "Nozomi, if you keep on suppressing your feelings you're just going to hurt yourself. At some point it might be too late to let them out. Why are you so scared of accepting how you feel?" Nozomi's blush disappeared and she took on a more sad expression. She looked down at the ground as she replied, "I feel like Menma might see me as more of a daughter, if I suddenly start feeling romantic towards him and let out those feelings... I feel like it might destroy our current relationship... but yes, it's true. I really, really, like Menma!"

Mina involuntarily smiled, she was glad that she was finally accepting how she felt. "Well then you should express those feelings." Nozomi shook her head. She responded, "No way! What if he doesn't like me back?" Mina sighed and thought of what to say. Eventually she told her, "You and I both have seen how nice Menma can be, he'd never start viewing you weirdly or anything like that... also, you may not know this, but you're the only girl that's ever made him blush. By accident too! And let me tell you, he's been in... some interesting situations. Please don't read my mind," Mina had to add that last part because she didn't want Nozomi seeing what she did before.

Nozomi wasn't sure why she had to ask that but she thankfully complied. Although after hearing that information a small hopeful look became visible on Nozomi's face. She asked, "Really?" Mina nodded. Nozomi even read her mind and could tell she wasn't lying. Her tail started twitching thoughts(purely innocent) entered her mind. Mina started walking towards the door. She stated, "I'll leave you alone so you can think about what you want to do. I'll come back tomorrow."

As Mina left Nozomi's room Menma was conversing with Nero on the other side of the estate. "Menma, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Menma nodded and Nero continued, "Well we can go there tomorrow, you need time to get your thoughts straight. After going through such a sudden change you need some time to adjust." Menma sighed and reluctantly accepted his condition. Menma said, "Alright Nero, but don't back out now. We're going to go see Orochimaru tomorrow," they both shook hands and went to their own rooms.

Unlike before Menma didn't plan on going there with malicious intent, he just needed closure. He arrived here two weeks ago with the intent of killing him and anyone else that got in his way. Menma chuckled a little when he thought about how the old Menma would react to how he is now. He used to be so tunnel visioned that he didn't notice much of anything else around himself.

As his room entered within his field of vision he also noticed that Nero's sensei was walking down the hallway. Kiritsugu noticed Menma and gave him a smile and wave. Menma felt awkward when he returned the gesture due to what he learned about him, but he continued on. He entered his room and fell right onto his bed. He noticed it was still evening when he looked out of the window, but he was so mentally exhausted from everything that happened today that he was confident he would sleep until morning.

His eyes became heavy and his consciousness was about to fade, but he noticed a familiar holy glow out of the corner of his eye. He opened his eyes all the way and looked towards the source of the light and noticed Adonai. Menma felt slightly annoyed, but he welcomed Adonai nonetheless.

Adonai greeted him with a smile and stated, "You've gone through a change," Adonai glanced towards his very slightly cracked door. Menma followed his gaze wondering what he was looking at but noticed nothing. Adonai looked back towards him and continued, "In more ways than one."

Menma wasn't sure how to respond so he simply nodded in response. Adonai walked closer to Menma and announced, "There has been something that I've been wanting to show you. I believe that you're ready now," Adonai lifted one of his arms and placed his hand on Menma's head.

Suddenly memories flooded into Menma's mind. He saw the life of Orochimaru in his younger years, he saw every tragedy he experienced, ranging from his father, his memory loss, his discovery of those 3 boys, growing a bond with them, all the way to their deaths all from the perspective of Orochimaru all the while feeling what Orochimaru felt each time.

After Adonai lifted his hand off of Menma's head Menma had a look of anguish and regret on his face. He saw the humanity in Orochimaru, how he was stripped of it, how it was reopened by some boys, and then how he killed those boys. Menma opened his mouth to say something but Adonai quickly cut him off, "I've shown you this so you have a better understanding of him. You can choose what you want to do with this information."

Adonai faded away before Menma could say anything and he was left to his thoughts. And while he sat there stuck in his thoughts he didn't take any notice to the cat girl silently weeping outside of his door. Nozomi had seen everything due to her new power, and she saw more than that. She saw Menma's entire life too. She felt a little guilty for invading his mind like that, but she also started feeling distraught from the realization she had a mom which answered the question to the gaps in her memory. Her silent weeps slowly started building up into sobs. She had felt lied to by the person she admired the most.

Suigetsu happened to be nearby and he ran in her direction. "Nozomi, is something wrong?!" He noticed that he was right outside of Menma's room and he clenched his face. "Don't tell me"- he was quickly cut off by a crying Nozomi. "N-no, he didn't do anything wrong. It's just... it's just..." Suigetsu couldn't tell what was wrong but he decided to just take her to her room.

They quickly arrived there and Suigetsu sat her on her bed. Nozomi silently thanked him and told him, "I... need some time to myself." Suigetsu nodded and left the room. Once he shut the door behind him he started heading towards Mina's room. She's been talking to her more so she should be able to help more than he can.

Nighttime passed by as the sun was rising in the sky. Menma left his room and started heading towards the gate to meet Nero who was most likely already there. As he passed by Nozomi's room he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. But he shook it off and continued on. He opened the door leading outside and let the sun Ray's grace his face. He walked down the steps and he noticed Suigetsu was training out on the training grounds. Suigetsu noticed him and stopped for a minute. "Good morning, Menma. You look like you're going somewhere," Menma nodded in response and Suigetsu continued, "Well when you come back make sure you don't bother Nozomi. You should just wait until the next time she approaches you," Menma wasn't sure what he meant by that but he continued on.

He walked up to Nero who was leaning against the entrance gate to the estate. Nero noticed Menma and he simply nodded. Menma placed a hand on him and they both arrived at Orochimaru's final hideout via Kamui. Nero had already known about this place so he informed Menma about the layout of the place.

They got into their combat modes and started sneaking around the hideout and noticed that everything seemed abandoned. There were half built guns everywhere and it looked like everyone who was here just dropped everything and suddenly left. Menma was confused but he continued on through the facility. He eventually reached areas which assumed were the holding cells. Although all of those also happened to be empty.

Now Menma was really confused. He expected this to be more of a factory and prison, and it seemed like that's what it used to be. They both felt as though the place was abandoned so they naturally ended up letting down their guards.

Eventually after enough searching around they found what looked like the main hall and Nero stopped walking. Menma also stopped and looked back at him. "Menma, this is something that you have to deal with yourself. I'll stay here and wait for you," Menma smiled and continued on. As he walked down the huge hallway he noticed Orochimaru all the way at the other end of the hallway, and it seemed like he hadn't noticed him yet. As he got closer and closer to Orochimaru he started remembering more and more. He started thinking, 'Now that I think about it, it's been two years since I've last seen Orochimaru. A lot has happened since then, I can tell he's a lot different than he was when I last saw him. So hopefully things go differently now than how they did back then.'

Menma has had conflicted feelings for two days now. Could he really forgive Orochimaru for everything that he's done? Even after he understood him? This remains to be seen, it can only be answered by him confronting him. Both Menma and Orochimaru shared the same feelings.

Orochimaru finally noticed Menma and turned around to face him. There were no words shared and they simply stared into one another's eyes. This went on for an entire minute. After that minute passed they both loosened up. They were curious as to what they would feel once they confronted one another, and that feeling was no longer hate. Menma decided to initiate the conversation, "Orochimaru... I didn't expect things to turn out like this, I had thought there would have been a lot more activity here."

Orochimaru responded, "I... had an epiphany, and I decided to stop all operations," Menma was surprised by what he heard, but he was happy to hear it nonetheless. He even smiled a little. "So, as you know I originally came to this village to kill you, but that's not necessary anymore... is it?" Orochimaru looked down at the ground and pondered on what to say. He finally came up with his answer, "I've done countless horrible things, I wouldn't blame you or hold anything against you if you still wanted to kill me. I'm not asking you to spare me, but if you did you wouldn't have to worry about me continuing any of my previous... activities."

Menma felt an odd sense of relief after hearing that and asked him, "What about Kabuto? He was completely willing to go along with everything you did. Do you think he'll protest this change?" Orochimaru shaked his head, "Not at all, although he might have seemed like he enjoyed what he did, the reality is that he enjoyed following the instructions I gave him. He's completely loyal to me, he'll follow me no matter what."

Menma fell silent for a minute. He started thinking about everything that's been going down and he couldn't help but laugh. He spoke, "And to think, I studied a whole new area of jutsus to come up with a technique to kill you... and now this has happened. It almost feels like an anticlimactic joke... but I guess this change was for the best, for both of us."

Orochimaru turned around and couldn't help but laugh a little himself, "Well I have been doing something similar, but it seems like I won't be using it," Orochimaru turned back towards Menma and continued, "It would be way too optimistic to believe that we could be friends, but I'll help you when the time comes that you need help," Menma nodded and started heading back the way he came.

Nero came back into eyesight and he asked, "So how did it go?" Menma answered, "We have nothing to worry about anymore. Let's go back home."

Nero analysed Menma's body and noticed no signs of fatigue or damage on him, so it seems like there was no trouble. 'He really has conquered hatred... hopefully.'

They quickly arrived back home and once they did so they noticed it was noon. Menma was ready to call it a day, he was happy with how things turned out and it almost seemed too perfect. And it seems like it was, he heard a knock on his door. He opened the door and his eyes were greeted by a stern-faced Mina. "Nozomi wants to speak to you."

Menma nodded and started following Mina. He wasn't sure what the problem was but he could tell that it was serious due to Mina's tone. As he followed her down the hallway his anxiety increased more and more. By the time Nozomi's room came within eyesight he noticed his hands felt cold. 'Why am I so nervous? I don't even know if anything's wrong yet. It's always like this when it comes to her.'

Menma stopped in front of her door, but Mina continued walking. Before Menma could say anything Mina told him, "This is something for you to deal with Menma. Make sure you don't back out, she needs you."

Menma wasn't sure what she meant at first but then he remembered what she said some days ago about love. He started blushing and thought, 'Wait, l-love? As in a relationship with Nozomi???' He started pondering on it in his head. He ended up realizing that he definitely looked at her differently than every other woman that he's met. 'Well, I do feel different around her... but is it really love?'

He called out to Mina, "Hey, Mina! What you said the other day... I feel different around her, like I have a compulsive need to protect her, for personal reasons instead of just because Minako told me to. Is that really love?" Mina simply smirked, "You just gave yourself the answer," and she continued on her way.

Menma wasn't sure what she meant by that but he decided to just enter Nozomi's room. "I remember that Kakashi told me something when I was with Temari, he said that love was something that developed overtime, and consistency can breed and nurture that love. He also said that love at first sight isn't really love, it's superficial and childish. I think I got mad at him since I thought he was talking about my relationship with Temari at the time, but maybe he was right... then, maybe this is love. I definitely didn't feel like this towards her at first, although we always did have a spark, and Adonai brought her up once or twice too... whatever, now isn't the time to think about all of that. Nozomi needs me for something.'

Menma fully entered the room and closed the door behind him. Both he and Nozomi made eye contact. Her cat ears were low and her eyes looked puffy as if she was crying not too long ago. She initiated the conversation, "Menma, I want to talk about some things... I know about my mom."


End file.
